ITS SIGETS AND INSIGHTS 




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.MONROE 



tHHIIIItlililliillllltUlttllilllllli 



Glass 




Book L 



Copyright ]^^. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSnV 




Photo l.v Pach Bros., New York 



PRESIDENT TAKT 



ITS SIGHTS AJ^-D IfiSIGHTS 



BY 

Mrs. Harriet Earhart Monroe 

Author of ''The Art of Conversation,'' ''The Heroine of the Mining 
Camp,''' "Historical Lutheranism,'" etc. 



NEW AND REVISED EDITION 




FUNK & WAGNALIvvS COMPANY 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 
1909 






Copyright, 1903 and 1909, by 

HARRIET EARHART MONROE 

\Printed in the United States 0/ America] 

Revised Edition Published .September, 1909 



24 8 36 



% 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



I. The City of Washington i 

II. A Genius from France 4 

III. The Capitol Building 12 

IV. Interior of the Capitol i? 

V. The Rotunda 21 

VI. Concerning Some of the Art at the Capitol . . 26 

VII. The Senate Chamber 33 

VIII. The House of Representatives 40 

IX.. Concerning Representatives 46 

X. The Supreme Court Room 53 

XI. Incidents Concerning Members of the Supreme 

Court of the United States 58 

XII. Teaching Patriotism in the Capitol .... 67 

XIII. People in the Departments 73 

XIV. Incidents In and Out of the Departments . . 80 
XV. Treasury Department 84 

XVI. Secret Service Department of the Treasury 

of the United States 92 

XVII. Post-Office Department 100 

XVIII. Department of Agriculture 105 

XIX. Department of Chemistry on Pure Foods . . 109 

XX. Department of the Interior 114 

XXI. Branches of the Department of the Interior . . I2i 

XXII. Bureau of Indian Affairs 126 

XXIII. The Library of Congress 131 

iii 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

XXIV. The Pension Office 138 

XXV. State, War, and Navy Departments ... 146 

XXVI. State, War, and Navy Departments {Cont'd) . 155 

XXVII. Department of Commerce 161 

XXVIII. The Executive Mansion 166 

XXIX. Interests in Washington Which Can Not Here 

be Fully Described 179 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

President Taft Frontispiece 

Bird's-eye View of Washington, Looking East from the 

Monument Bettveen 4 and 5 

Bird's-eye View of Washington, Looking Down the Po- 
tomac from the Monument Between 'i and ^ 

The Capitol Bettveen 12 and 13 

Plan of the Principal Floor of the Capitol 15 

Brumidi Frieze in Rotunda 22 

Brumidi Frieze in Rotunda 23 

The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation . 27 
Group I Between 32 and 33 

Statuary Hall 

" Westward Ho ! " 

Washington Declining Overtures from Cornwallis 

The Senate Chamber 

Some Prominent Senators 

The House of Representatives in Session 

Some Prominent Representatives 

New House Office Building 

The Mace 41 

The Speaker's Room 42 

V 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Seating Plan of the Supreme Court Chamber .... 54 
Group II Between '^o and %\ 

Justices of the Supreme Court 

The Supreme Court Room 

The Treasury Building 

New Municipal Building 

Government Printing Office 

New Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Union Station 

The Smithsonian Institution 

The New National Museum 

Macerating $10,000,000 of Money 8S 

The Patent Office 114 

Group III Between \i% and \2.Cj 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs 

The Congressional Library 

Grand Stairway of the Congressional Library 

The Rotunda (Reading-room) of the Congressional 
Library 

The Pension Office 

The State, War, and Navy Departments 

The German Embassy 

The British Embassy 

The New French Embassy 

The Russian Embassy 
One of the Bronze Doors of the Congressional Library 133 

The Declaration of Independence 148 

vi 



ILLUSTRATlONvS 

PAGE 

Fish Commission Building 163 

Mrs. William H. Taft 166 

Group IV Between i'](j and i"]"] 

The President and Cabinet 

Entrance to the White House 

New Wing of the White House 

South Front of the White House 

North Front of the White House 

Grand Corridor — White House 

State Dining-room — White House 

Mount Vernon — From South Lawn 

Tomb of Washington — Mount Vernon 

Home of General Lee 

Monument to the Unknown Dead, Arlington Na- 
tional Cemetery 

The Washington Monument 
Charlotte Corday 181 



WASHINGTON 

ITS SIGHTS AjV2> IJW SIGHTS 

I 
THE CITY OF WASHINGTON 



'T^ HK City of Washington is the central point 

^ J of interest of that stage on which is being 

^^8 performed the second century a(fl in the 

great drama of self-government. 

The adlors here are the representatives of 85,000,000 

of people. The spec5lators are all the peoples of the 

world, to be succeeded by those of all future ages. 

If this experiment in self-government should fail, 
all other republics will surely perish ; but we believe 
that the Republic of the United States of America 
has taken its place as a fixed star in the galaxy of 
great nations, and that the stars on its flag will riot be 
dimmed till dimmed in the blaze of humanity's millen- 
nium. Therefore, the adlors and the buildings of this 
great city, which are parts of the dramatis personcB 
and the furniture of the stage, can not fail to be 
interesting to any child of the republic. 

Baron Humboldt, in 1804, when standing on the 
west balcony of the Capitol building, said : ' * This 

1 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

point gives the most beautiful view of its type in the 
world." 

Senator Sumner said : ' ' The City of Washington is 
more beautiful than ancient Rome. ' ' 

Besides what one can behold of the great city from 
that point, across the Potomac can be seen the heights 
of Arlington, where sleep so many of the sacred dead 
of the nation. 

The place is also famed as having been the home of 
Robert E. Lee, noted in early da3's for a generous 
Southern hospitality. If walls could speak, what 
thrilling stories of chivalrous men and fair women 
could be there heard ! 

On the south of Washington, in plain view, lies the 
quaint old town of Alexandria, where Ellsworth was 
killed, while far to the north is Howard University, 
used chiefly for the education of colored people — the 
one the t^-pe of the departing past, the other the 
emblem of the possibilities of a coming hopeful future. 

Washington is the onl^^ city in the world built ex- 
clusivel}^ to serve as a capital. Just after the Revo- 
lution, Congress, sitting in Philadelphia, was grossly 
insulted by the unpaid returning troops, against whom 
the city offered no adequate protecftion. Congress 
then arljourned to the collegiate halls of Princeton, 
where resolutions were offered to erecft buildings for 
the exclusive use of Congress, either on the Delaware 
River or on the Potomac River. 

Several States were applicants for the permanent 
seat of government, but diplomacy and a good dinner 
settled the question in favor of its present site. 

We are apt to think everything was done in that 



THE CITY OF WASHINGTON 

day on the high plane of patriotism, but prejudice, 
provincialism, and avarice each played its part. 

Hamilton was desirous of having his treasury 
policy adopted. The North favored this policy, but 
the representatives from that sedlion, accustomed to 
the comforts of New York and Philadelphia, had no 
inclination to establish the Capitol on a swampy 
Southern plantation, away from the usual lines of 
travel. 

Washington was with the South. Jefferson gave a 
great dinner, where, under the influence of rare old 
wine and the witching words of Hamilton, Northern 
ease, in exchange for Southern consent to the treasury 
policy, gave way to the Southern desire that the 
nation's Capitol should be located in its present 
position. 

The land was purchased from four planters — Young, 
Carroll, Davidson, and David Burns. Mr. Burns was 
not willing to part with his land at the rates offered. 
When Washington remonstrated, the old Scotchman 
said: "I suppose, Mr. Washington, you think that 
people are going to take every grist that comes from 
you as pure grain ; but who would you have been if 
you had not married the widow Custis? " 

Posterity is apt to inquire, Who would ever have 
heard of the widow Custis if she had not married 
George Washington ? 

But government had ways, then as now, of l)ringing 
about conclusions when property was wanted for pub- 
lic purposes. 



II 

A GENIUS FROM FRANCE 



A MONG the pathetic figures of the early days of 

lI^L the Capitol City is that of Mai or Pierre 

^^xf Charles !<' Enfant, who was seledled by 

Washington to draft plans for the new city. 

ly' Enfant was a skilful engineer who had come to 
America with Lafayette in 1777. He did not go back 
to France with his countrymen in 1783, but remained 
in this country, and was employed by Washington as 
an engineer in several places. 

He devoted the summer of 1791 to planning, not the 
capital of a small nation, but a city which could be 
sufficiently enlarged should this continent be densely 
populated from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

There was no other man in this country at that time 
who had such knowledge of art and engineering as 
Major Iv'Enfant. Plans of Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
Carlsruhe, Amsterdam, Paris, Orleans, Turin, Milan, 
and other European cities were sent to him from Phil- 
adelphia by Washington, who had obtained the plan 
of each of these cities by his own personal effort. 

Washington himself desired the new city planned 
somewhat like Philadelphia, a plain checkerboard, but 
L' Enfant, while making the checkerboard style the 
basis, diversified, beautified, and complicated the 
whole by a system of avenues radiating from the 
Capitol as the centre and starting-point of the whole 

4 




Photo by Clinedinst 



BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WASHINGTON, 1 




KING EAST FROM THE MONUMENT 



A GENIUS FROM FRANCE 



system. The streets running east and west are desig- 
nated by letters. They are divided into two classes 
or sets — those north of the Capitol and those south 
of it. Thus, the first street north of the Capitol is A 
Street North, and the first street south of it is A Street 
South, the next is B Street, North or South, as the 
case may be, and so on. These distindlions of North, 
South, East, and West are most important, as forget- 
fulness of them is apt to lead to very great inconve- 
nience. 

The streets are laid off at regular distances from 
each other, but for convenience other thoroughfares 
not laid down in the original plan have been cut 
through some of the blocks. These are called ' * half 
streets," as they occur between, and are parallel with, 
the numbered streets. Thus, Four-and-a-half Street 
is between Fourth and Fifth streets, and runs parallel 
with them. 

The avenues run diagonally across the city. New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware avenues 
interse(5l at the Capitol, and Pennsylvania, New York, 
Vermont, and Conne(5licut avenues intersedl at the 
President's house. Pennsylvania Avenue is the main 
thoroughfare. It is one hundred and sixty feet wide, 
and extends the entire length of the city, from the East- 
ern Branch to Rock Creek, which latter stream separ- 
ates Washington from Georgetown. It was originally 
a swampy thicket. The bushes were cut away to the 
desired width soon after the city was laid off, but few 
persons cared to settle in the swamp. Through the 
exertions of President Jefferson, it was planted with 
four rows of fine Lombardy poplars — one on each 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

side and two in the middle — with the hope of making 
it equal to the famous Unter den I^inden, in Berlin. 
The poplars did not grow as well as was hoped, how- 
ever, and when the avenue was graded and paved by- 
order of Congress in 1832 and 1833 these trees were 
removed. Pennsylvania Avenue is handsomely built 
up, and contains some buildings that w^ould do credit 
to any city. The distance from the Capitol to the 
President's house is one mile, and the view from either 
point along the avenue is very fine. 

Every circle, triangle, and square dedicated to mon- 
uments bears testimony to the taste of the original 
design. So little respe(5l, however, was held for Major 
L' Enfant' s plans that Daniel Carroll, one of the orig- 
inal owners of the land, was in the a(5l of building a 
handsome house right across New Jersey Avenue. 
E' Enfant ordered it torn down. This was done, much 
to the disgust of Carroll and to the indignation of the 
commissioners. The government rebuilt the house 
for Carroll, but was careful to place it in a more suit- 
able location. The old Duddington House, on Capitol 
Hill, was long a landmark of the early Washington 
architecflure. 

There were some other adls of irritability on the 
part of L' Enfant, a(5ls which now show his just appre- 
ciation of his own great work. He was paid $2,500 
for his services and dismissed. He believed he should 
have been pensioned, as would have been done in 
Europe. 

Afterward he saw the city expand as the nation 
grew strong, while he, a disappointed, poverty- 
stricken man, wandered, a pathetic figure, about the 

6 



A GENIUS FROM FRANCE 



Capitol until 1825, when he died. He had lived for 
years on the Diggs farm, about eight miles from 
Washington, and was buried in the family cemetery 
in the Diggs garden, and when the dead of that family 
were removed his dust was left in an unmarked grave. 

Mr. Corcoran, the great banker of Washington, who 
died in 1888, said he remembeaed L'Enfant as "a 
rather seedy, stylish old man, with a long green coat 
buttoned up to his throat, a bell-crowned hat, a little 
moody and lonel}-, like one wronged." The heart of 
a stranger in a strange, ungrateful land. 

The City of Washington is his monument. No one 
can now^ rob him of that honor. Let us hope that he 
has awakened in His likeness and is satisfied. 

Could the Colonial Dames or the Daughters of the 
Revolution do a more beneficent and popular a(5l than 
to mark the resting-place of Peter Charles L' Enfant, 
who drew the origitial plans of that cit}' which is to 
become the most beautiful city in the Avorld?* 

The letters of General Washington abound in refer- 
ences to the difficulty of ol^taining money to fit the 
new city for capital purposes. Virginia made a dona- 
tion of $120,000 and the State of Maryland gave 
$72,000. Afterward the latter State was induced to 
loan $100,000 toward fitting the city for a capital. 

The City of Washington was officially occupied in 
June, 1800. Since then it has been the ward of Con- 
gress. Strangers, even at this late day, often comment 
on the long distance between the Capitol building and 
the Executive Mansion ; but Washington strongly im- 

* On April 28, 1909, the body of Major ly'Knfant was moved to the Na- 
tional Cemetery, at Arlington, where a suitable memorial will soon be 
erected. 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

pressed upon the mind of Major ly' Enfant that the 
latter must be at a considerable distance, so that mem- 
bers of Congress should not fall into the habit of com- 
ing too frequently to call upon the President, and thus 
waste the time of the executive head of the nation. 

It is not the purpose in these sketches to dwell too 
much on the history of Washington, but rather to 
make a pi(5lure of the city as it is in the first decade of 
the twentieth century. A glimpse of it, however, in 
the summer of 1 8 14 is really necessary to complete our 
references to the early daj^s of the nation's capital. 

In 1 8 14 the city was captured by a small British 
force under General Ross, and both wings of the Capi- 
tol building, with its library and almost all the records 
of the government up to that date, were destroyed by 
fire, also the White House, as the Executive Mansion 
was even then called, and most of the departments, 
including the Navy-yard. 

Mrs. Madison, in a letter to her sister, gives a 
graphic pidlure of the time: 

**Dkar Sister, — My husband left me yesterday 
morning to join General Winder. He inquired anx- 
iously whether I had courage or firmness to remain in 
the President's house until his return on the morrow 
or succeeding day, and on my assurance that I had no 
fear but for him and the success of our army, he left 
me, beseeching me to take care of myself and of the 
Cabinet papers, public and private. I have since re- 
ceived two despatches from him, written with a pencil; 
the last is alarming, because he desires that I should 
be ready at a moment's warning to enter my carriage 

8 



Photo by Clinedinst 

BIRD'S-EYE 



VIEW OF WASHINGTON, LOOKIN 




DOWN THE POTOMAC FROM THE MONUMENT 



A GENIUS FROM FRANCE 



and leave the city; that the enemy seemed stronger 
than had been reported, and that it might happen that 
they would reach the city with intention to destroy it. 

" . . . I am accordingly ready; I have pressed 
as many Cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one car- 
riage; our private property must be sacrificed, as it is 
impossible to procure wagons for its transportation. I 
am determined not to go myself until I see Mr. Madi- 
son safe and he can accompany me, as I hear of much 
hostility toward him. . . . Disaffedlion stalks 
around us. . . . My friends and acquaintances 
are all gone, even Colonel C, with his hundred men, 
who were stationed as a guard in this enclosure. . . . 
French John (a faithful domestic), with his usual 
adlivity and resolution, offers to spike the cannon at 
the gate and lay a train of powder which would blow 
up the British vshould they enter the house. To the 
last proposition I positively objedl, without being able, 
however, to make him understand why all advantages 
in war may not be taken. 

"Wednesday morning (twelve o'clock). — Since sun- 
rise I have been turning my spyglass in every direc- 
tion and watching with unwearied anxiety, hoping to 
discover the approach of my dear husband and his 
friends ; but, alas ! I can descry only groups of mili- 
tary wandering in all dire(5lions, as if there was a lack 
of arms, or of spirit, to fight for their own firesides. 

"Three o'clock. — Will you believe it, my sister? 
We have had a, battle, or skirmish, near Bladensburg, 
and I am still here within sound of the cannon. Mr. 
Madison comes not— may God protecft him ! Two 
messengers, covered with dust, come to bid me fly ; 

9 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

but I wait for him. ... At this late hour a 
wagon has been procured ; I have had it filled with 
the plate and most valuable portable articles belonging 
to the house ; whether it will reach its destination, 
the Bank of Maryland, or fall into the hands of Brit- 
ish soldiery, events must determine. Our kind friend, 
Mr. Carroll, has come to hasten my departure, and 
is in a very bad humor with me because I insist on 
waiting until the large pi6lure of General Washington 
is secured, and it requires to be unscrewed from the 
wall. This process was found too tedious for these 
perilous moments. I have ordered the frame to be 
broken and the canvas taken out ; it is done, and the 
precious portrait placed in the hands of two gentle- 
men of New York for safe-keeping. And now, my 
dear sister, I must leave this house, or the retreating 
army will make me a prisoner in it by filling up the 
road I am diredled to take. When I shall again 
write to you, or where I shall be to-morrow, I can not 
tell." 

We all know the story of Mrs. Madison's flight, of 
her return in disguise to a desolated, burned, ruined 
home. She would have been without shelter except 
for the open door of Mrs. Cutts, her sister, who lived 
in the city. From that point she visited the ruins of 
all the public buildings while she awaited her hus- 
band's return. 

We are apt to think of the White House as a place of 
leas, receptions, gayly dressed people, light, music, 
flowers, and laughter ; but it, too, has seen its 
tragedies. 
10 



A GENIUS FROM FRANCE 



Fifty years after the burning of the city the famous 
Stuart picture of Washington, referred to in Mrs. 
Madison's letter, was retouched and hung in the East 
Room, and still constitutes one of the few ornaments 
of the Executive Mansion. 

During Mr. Roosevelt's administration (1902-1903) 
extensive alterations and additions were niade to the 
Executive building. 

The conservatory, so long an object of enjoyment to 
the public, was removed to give place for a long white 
esplanade on the w^est, forming the approach to the 
Executive offices, while on the east side a white colo^ 
nade now provides a most desirable entrance for large 
crowds on public occasions. 

It has been a matter of regret to D. A. R. women, 
and to all the patriotic women of the nation, that the 
portraits of the ladies of the White HoUvSe have been 
remanded to the basement corridors. Here are now 
the portraits of Mrs. Van Buren, Mrs. Tyler, Mrs. 
Polk (presented by ladies of Tennessee during Mr. 
Arthur's administration), Mrs. Hayes (presented by 
the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
during Mr. Hayes's term), and Mrs. Benjamin Har- 
rison (presented by the D.A.R. ), and the portrait of 
Mrs. Roosevelt, by Chartran. 



11 



Ill 

THE CAPITOL BUILDING 



^T^ HK corner-stone of the old Capitol, which con- 

^ I stitutes the central portion of the new edi- 
^Sl fice, was laid the i8th of September, 1793, 
by General Washington, in the presence of 
a great concourse of people and with imposing cere- 
monies. 

The corner-stones of the wings were laid by Presi- 
dent Fillmore, July 4, 1851. Webster delivered the 
oration of the occasion. 

The old building is of yellow sandstone, kept painted 
white to beautify and preserve it ; the wings are of 
white marble. On its central portico all our Presi- 
dents, from Andrew Jackson to President McKinley, 
have taken the oath of office. PrCvSident Roosevelt 
took the oath of office at Buffalo. This building, 
which fronts the east, was set in accordance with the 
astronomical observations of Andrew EHicott, an en- 
gineer from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who suc- 
ceeded Major L' Enfant as general surveyor and en- 
gineer in the new city. 

Kllicott is described as bearing a marked resemblance 
to Benjamin Franklin, except that he was more of a 
Quaker in appearance, wearing a long, fine gray broad- 
cloth coat and a Quaker hat. He awaits the resurrec- 
tion in an unmarked grave at EHicott City, Maryland. 

The original building was constru(5ted from plans 
12 




Photo by Clinedinst 



th: 




ITOL 



THE CAPITOL BUILDING 



submitted by Stephen Hallet, the work undergoing 
some modifications from the plans of Dr. William 
Thornton. 

The great wings were added during Fillmore's ad- 
ministration from designs submitted by Thomas N. 
Walter, architecft, who not only superintended the 
building of the additions, but also managed to har- 
monize them with the original design. 

Years ago it was quite the fashion for Americans 
returning from Europe to make disparaging remarks 
concerning the Capitol building, but that spirit seems 
to have passed away, and the dignity, grace, and 
beauty of its architedlure now receive universal com- 
mendation. 

Prince Henry of Germany remarked of this noble 
stru6lure : ' ' For Capitol purposes it surpasses ever}'' 
other building in the world. Its architecftural beauty 
is most impressive. ' ' 

It is not our purpose to give a minute description 
of the building. We have said that it faces east, for 
the founders of the Capitol believed the city would 
grow in that dire(5lion, but the landholders of early 
days asked such high prices that the city began to 
stretch toward the northwest, which is to this day the 
fashionable part for residences, although Capitol Hill 
is much more beautiful as to situation. 

The base of the building is ninety-seven feet above 
the river. The central strudlure is of Virginia yellow 
sandstone, which is kept painted white. The wings 
are of Massachusetts marble, and the one hundred 
columns of the extension porticoes are of Maryland 
marble. 



18 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

The building covers three and one-half acres. It is 
seven hundred and fifty-one feet long and three hun- 
dred and fifty feet wide. 

The height of the dome above the rest of the build- 
ing is two hundred and fifty-seven feet, and its weight 
is eight million pounds. This dome is surmounted by 
Crawford's statue of Freedom, nineteen and one-half 
feet high, and weighing fifteen thousand pounds. 
The entire edifice constitutes the highest public build- 
ing in America not located on a mountain, being sixty- 
eight feet higher than Bunker Hill monument, and 
twenty-three feet higher than the steeple of Trinity 
Church, in New York City. 

Thomas G. Walker resigned his place as archite(5l 
in 1865, and was succeeded by the late architecfl of the 
Capitol, Mr. Edward Clark, who died early in 1902. 
His great work had been to finish the west front fac- 
ing the city, and to harmonize the conflidling and 
foreign tastes of the many decorators of the building. 

Mr. Elliott Wood, the successor of Mr. Clark, had 
been the latter' s chief assistant. Mr. Wood had long 
been virtually in charge of the Capitol. 

The archite(5ls had a candidate ready because Mr. 
Wood was pracftically an engineer ; to meet this and 
yet give a faithful man his due, the name of the posi- 
tion was changed to that of Superintendent of the 
Capitol. He, like his predecessor, has much to do in 
getting rid of the foreign artists' effecfts and in Ameri- 
canizing the whole. , 

Mrs. Mary Clemmer Ames says of the Capitol : " It 
not only borrowed its face from the buildings of 
antiquity, but it was built by men strangers in thought 
14 




laantBBnti w.d 



15 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

and spirit to the genius of the' new republic, and to 
the unwrought and unembodied poetry of its virgin 
soil. Its earlier decorators, all Italians, overlaid its 
walls with their florid colors and foreign symbols ; 
within the American Capitol they have set the lyOggia 
of Raphael, the voluptuous anterooms of Pompeii, 
and the baths of Titus. The American plants, birds, 
and animals, representing prodigal nature at home, are 
buried in twilight passages, while mythological bar- 
maids, misnamed goddesses, dance in the most con- 
spicuous and preposterous places. ' ' 

An office building for the use of members of the 
House has been const rucfted (1909) on the block 
on B Street, between New Jersey Avenue and First 
Street, southeast of the Capitol. A similar building 
has been erected northeast of the Capitol, for the use 
of Senators. The two buildings are connec5led by 
an underground road, on which swift automobile-like 
cars run for the convenience of legislators. The House 
offices contain 410 rooms, the Senate offices 99 rooms. 
The appropriation for each building was $2,500,000. 
There is a general feeling in Washington that too 
much luxury pervades these buildings. 



16 




IV 



INTERIOR OF THE CAPITOL 

N 1808 Jefferson made Benjamin Henry Latrobe 
supervising archite(5l of what we now call 
the old Capitol, being the central portion of 
the present building. 
He construdled the original Senate Chamber, now 
the Supreme Court' Room, on the plan of the old 
Greek theater, the general outline of which it yet 
retains. The House (now Statuary Hall) also had a 
decidedly Grecian aspecft. It was finished in 181 1. 
Statuary Hall is semicircular in shape, and has a 
vaulted roof. Its ornamentation is not 3^et completed. 
This is right. It would not be well to occupy all the 
space in one generation. We need the perspe(5live of 
time to know that which will be of permanent interest 
to the world. 

Here Clay presided, here Webster spoke, and here 
Adams stood for the right of petition and for the aboli- 
tion of human slavery. What pidlures these scenes 
would make ! A plate in the floor southwest of the 
center marks the spot in the House where John 
Quincy Adams fell stricken with paralysis. In a room 
opening from the Hall is a memorial bust, whose 
inscription reads: " John Quincy Adams, who, after 
fifty years of public service, the last sixteen in yonder 
Hall, was summoned to die in this room February 23 
1848." 

17 



W ASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

The room has special acoustic qualities which in 
early days occasioned much trouble. A whisper 
scarcely audible to the ear into which it is breathed is 
distincftly heard in another part of the hall. It is one 
of the most remarkable whispering galleries in the 
world, and its peculiar properties, accidentally discov- 
ered, produced no end of disturbances before they 
were fully understood. Their effedl has been much 
modified by a recent change in the ceiling. 

Each State is now permitted to place in Statuary 
Hall two statues of its most renowned sons. 

Virginia has Washington and Jefferson. Think of 
that ! New Hampshire has Daniel Webster, who 
made these walls echo with his thrilling, patriotic sen- 
tences, and John Stark, of Bunker Hill fame, who 
cried: " See those men ? They are the redcoats ! Before 
night they are ours, or Molly Stark will be a widow ! " 

Pennsylvania has Robert Fulton, the inventor, and 
John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, the preacher, Major- 
General in the Revolution. He was also Senator and 
Member of Congress. New York has Robert R. Liv- 
ingston, of the Continental Congress, and Alexander 
Hamilton. T,he latter was Washington's Secretary of 
the Treasury during both of his Presidential terms. 
He had much to do with securing a good financial 
system for the new government. His pathetic death 
enhanced his fame and ruined Burr ; but under the 
search-light of history one can not help w^ondering 
had Burr been killed and Hamilton survived that duel, 
would the halo of the latter have faded ? The statue 
of Hamilton is one of the best in the Hall. It was 
made in Rome by Horatio Stone. 

18 



INTERIOR OF THE CAPITOL 

The Illinois memorial is the famous Vinnie Ream 
statue of Lincoln. I wish, because it was done by a 
woman, that I could like it, but it is weak and un- 
worthy. In every line of his strong, patriotic face 
lived the gospel of everlasting hope. This figure 
might well stand for one v^anquished in the race. (Was 
Jesus vanquished? Was Paul? Was Luther? Was 
Lincoln ?) 

There is a small bust of Lincoln, by Mrs. Ames, 
which approaches nearer the true ideal of the great 
apostle of Liberty. 

Illinois is further represented by James Shields, 
Senator. It would seem that men like Washington 
and Lincoln, who were the producfl of national influ- 
ences, should be venerated as representatives of the 
nation rather than of individual States. 

Missouri is represented by Frank Blair and Thomas 
H. Benton ; Vermont, by Jacob CoUamer and Ethan 
Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga ; Oregon, by Edward 
Dickinson Baker, whose fine statue is by Horatio 
Stone. 

Jacques Marquette (by G. Trentanore), in the garb 
of a Catholic priest, represents Wisconsin. Ohio has 
President Garfield and William Allen. 

Roger Sherman and John Trumbull represent Con- 
necticut, and Rhode Island memorializes Roger Will- 
iams and General Nathanael Greene, of Revolutionary 
fame — the former, in his quaint sixteenth century 
garb, standing as well for religious freedom as for the 
State which he founded. 

Massachusetts presents vSainuel Adams's statue, by 
Annie Whitney, and John Winthrop's, by R. S. Green- 

19 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

ough. What a goodly company they are, those New 
England heroes I -'^ 

Will Kansas have the courage to place there the 
statue of John Brown, of Osawatomie? He yet is a 
tj'pe of that unconventional State, which regards no 
precedent, follows no pattern ; that State which, in a 
blind w^ay, is striving to put the Ten Commandments 
on top and to uphold the principles of the Sermon on 
the Mount, no difference what man or what party goes 
down in the strife ; that State of which Whittier 
truthfully said : 

We cross the prairie as of old 

The pilgrims crossed the sea. 
To make the West, as they the East, 

The homestead of the free. 

Upbearing, like the ark of old 

The Bible in our van. 
We go to test the truth of God 

Against the fraud of man. 

A brave fight the State has made against fraud. The 
fight is yet on ; but who doubts that the truth of God 
"shall yet prevail,' and who would better stand for 
such a people than one who went down in that fight 
with the ' ' martyr's aureole ' ' around his grizzled head ? 
Mucn, of course, must be left untold here ; but it 
is hoped that what has been said will create a desire to 
see and learn more of those whom the State and the 
nation has here honored. 

* Since the above was written a statue of John James Ingalls, of Kan- 
sas, has been placed in Statuary Hall; as well as a statue of Frances Wil- 
lard, of Illinois, who is the first woman in the United States to be so honored. 



20 



THE ROTUNDA 



T is not the purpose in these sketches to go into 
any minute descriptions of places or things 
in Washington. To do that volumes would 
be needed, and then much left untold. 
The Rotunda is the central part of the old building 
of the Capitol, and lies beneath the dome. It is cir- 
cular in form, with a diameter of ninety-five feet, and 
with a height to the canopy above of a little over one 
hundred and eighty feet. 

The panels of the Rotunda are set with life-size pic- 
tures, illustrating important scenes in American history. 
There are "The Surrender of Burgoyne, Odtober 17, 
1777 " ; "The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, 
Virginia, October 19, 1781 "; and " The Resignation of 
Washington, December 23, 1783." These are by 
Trumbull. They may not be perfedl, considered as 
works of art, but they commemorate events whose 
memory should never die. 

The surrender of Burgoyne was the greatest tri- 
umph of American over British arms up to that date 
(October 17, 1777). Had his twelve hundred Hessians 
been English patriots the result might have been dif- 
ferent. When the British officer was sent to inquire 
their condition for a fight, the answer of the British 

21 




BRUMIDI FRIEZE IN ROTUNDA 



was, "We will fight to a man." But the Hes- 
vSians replied, " Nix the money, nix the rum, nix 
fighten." 

It was in a cold, drizzling rain that Lord Cornwallis 
made his surrender. He sat on his horse with his 
head uncovered. General Washington said, " Put on 
your hat, my lord ; you will take cold." He replied, 
" It matters not what happens to this head now." In 
our exultation we are apt to forget his side. 

No writer that I know of praises the scene of Wash- 
ington's resignation, yet the faces are so clear-cut 
that you recognize ever}^ face which other pictures 
have made familiar. The costumes are correcl his- 
torical studies, and I would not wish a line of them 
changed. 

Another pidlure of the Rotunda is ' ' The Declara- 
tion of Independence." How familiar, how dear each 
face has become, from Lee, Jefferson, Franklin, John 
Adams, Roger Sherman, and Livingston, to the plain 
Quaker who stands by the door ! Adams afterward 
wrote: " Several signed with regret, and several others 
with many doubts and much lukewarmness. " That 
shows in the pidture, and contrasts with the enthusi- 
asm of the few, who with clear vision felt the dawn of 
a larger liberty for the race. 

We are so apt to enjoy the music and forget the 







i 


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• " * ■ 






1 


m 


3 


^^^^■^^^^^^H 


^Sr < "'^i'j^ira 


!ida 







BRUMIDI FRIEZE IN ROTUNDA 



singer, to enjoy the painting and forget the artist, 
that we venture a reminder concerning Colonel John 
Trumbull, the artist aide-de-camp of General Wash- 
ington. He studied art in this country and in Europe. 
In London he painted John Adams, our first Minister 
to England, and, in Paris, Thomas Jefferson, our Min- 
ister to France. General Washington gave him sit- 
tings, and he traveled through the entire thirteen 
colonies securing portraits. It was not until 1816, 
after thirty years of careful preparation, that Congress 
gave him the commission to paint the four great his- 
torical paintings now in the Rotunda. They are the 
best authentic likenesses now in existence of the per- 
sons represented. 

^^ " The Embarkation of the Pilgrims," by Wier, is 
considered the best pi(5lure of the Rotunda. All the self- 
sacrifice of leaving country, home, and friends is in 
the women's faces, "All for God" is in the men's 
faces. It is the little leaven of Puritanism which yet 
keeps this country sweet. 

It is amusing to see the bands of Indians who are 
sent here to meet the " Great Father" stop before 
" The Baptism of Pocahontas," painted by Chapman. 
PZvidently neither the faces nor the costumes suit them, 
for they hoot and laugh, while they grunt with evident 
approval at the picture of Boone's conflicft w^ith the 

23 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

savages and that of William Penn's conference with 
the Indians of Pennsylvania. 

At a height of sixty-five feet above the floor, and 
encircling the wall at that point, about three hundred 
feet in circumference, runs a fresco, b}^ Brumidi and 
Castigni, in imitation high relief, which well depidls 
periods of American history, illustrating from the 
days of barbarism to civilization. It is incomplete at 
this time. 

Brumidi was, while yet a very young man, banished 
from Italy for participating in an insurredlion. He went 
to Mexico, and finally was brought to Washington 
through the instrumentality of General Meigs. His 
first work is in the room of the Committee of Agricul- 
ture of the House, where he represented Cincinnatus 
leaving the plow to receive the dicftatorship of Rome; 
General Putnam, in a similar situation, receiving the 
announcement of the outbreak of the Revolution, and 
other fine works are scarcely appreciated by the clerks 
who daily work beneath them. For eight dollars a 
day, the compensation he first received, Brumidi did 
work which thousands of dollars could not now dupli- 
cate. Almost every one knows that Brumidi began 
the decoration of the frieze around the Rotunda of the 
Capitol. He had completed in charcoal the cartoons 
for the remainder of the decoration, and these drawings 
he left to his son, supposing that the designs would be 
purchased from him by the successor sele(5led to com- 
plete the work. This man, however, obtained in some 
unknown way an idea of the sketches Brumidi had 
made, and attempted to carry them out without the 
aid of the originals. 
24 



THE ROTUNDA 



At the east door of the Rotunda are the famous 
bronze doors designed by Randolph Rogers at Rome 
in 1858, and cast at Munich. The high reliefs illus- 
trate leading events in the life of Columbus. 

From near the Rotunda one can ascend to the dome 
and overlook the entire Distric5l of Columbia. 



25 



VI 

CONCERNING SOME OF THE ART AT THE CAPITOL 



/\ MONG the interesting picflures in the Capitol is 
^^^ Frank B. Carpenter's pidlure, "The First 
IS^^ Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, 
September 22, 1862." Mr. Lincoln was 
accustomed to speak of the acfl which this pidlure rep- 
resents as the central a6l of his administration. His- 
torians have recorded it the leading event of the nine- 
teenth century. 

It changed the policy of the war, and was received 
by the army and the people as a necessary war meas- 
ure. According to Mr. Carpenter, he takes the 
moment when Mr. Lincoln has just said: " Gentle- 
men, I now propose to issue this Emancipation Proc- 
lamation. ' ' 

Montgomery Blair said: "If you do, Mr. President, 
we shall lose the fall eledlions." To this no one 
offered a reply. Mr. Seward, who sits in front of the 
table, said : " Mr. President, should we not wait for a 
more decisive vi(?tory, so that the rebels may know we 
are able to enforce the Proclamation ? ' ' Mr. Lincoln 
leaned forward and said, in a low voice : " I promised 
my God, if Lee were driven back from Maryland, to 
issue the -Proclamation." Mr. Seward said : "Mr. 
President, I withdraw every objecftion." Chase, who 
stands back of the President in the pi(5ture, and who 
was not always in sympathy with Mr. Lincoln, laid his 

26 




27 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

hand affedlionately on Mr. Lincoln's shoulder, to show 
the President that in this matter they were in perfec5l 
accord. 

The Proclamation came just after the battle of 
Antietam, which was far from being a decisive vidlory. 
The Proclamation set forth that, unless rebellion ceased 
by January i, 1863, the slaves at that time would be 
declared free. It was a case of "man's extremity 
is God's opportunity." 

Another pi(5lure which well merits a full description 
(which we have not space to give) is W. H. Powell's 
spirited pidlure, "The Battle of Lake Erie, September 
13,1813." It represents Commodore Perry transferring 
his colors from the disabled flagship Lawrejice to the 
Niagara in the midst of a fire from the enemy. Perry 
deserved all the glory he so richly won. 

Mary Clemmer Ames thus beautifully describes that 
great pidlure, ' ' Westward the Star of the Empire Takes 
its Way. ' ' The pidlure is in the stairway of the south 
wing : 

* ' At the first glance it presents a scene of inextric- 
able confusion. It is an emigrant train caught and 
tangled in one of the highest passes of the Rocky 
Mountains. Far backward spread the eastern plains, 
far onward stretches the Beulah of promise, fading at 
last in the far horizon. The great wagons struggling 
upward, tumbling downward from mountain precipice 
into mountain gorge, hold under their shaking covers 
every type of westward moving human life. Here is 
the mother sitting in the wagon front, her blue eyes 
gazing outward, wistfully and far, the baby lying on 
her lap ; one wants to touch the baby's head, it looks 

28 



SOME OF THE ART AT THE CAPITOL 

so alive and tender and shelterless in all that dust and 
turmoil of travel. A man on horseback carries his 
wife, her head upon his shoulder. Who that has ever 
seen it will forget her sick look and the mute appeal 
in the suffering eyes ? Here is the bold hunter with 
his raccoon cap, the pioneer boy on horseback, a coffee- 
pot and cup dangling at his saddle, and oxen — such 
oxen ! it seems as if their friendly noses must touch 
us ; they seem to be feeling out for our hand as we 
pass up the gallery. Here is the young man, the old 
man, and far aloft stands the advance-guard fastening 
on the highest and farthest pinnacle the flag of the 
United States. 

' ' Confusing — disappointing, perhaps — at first 
glance, this painting asserts itself more and more in the 
soul the oftener and the longer you gaze. Already the 
swift, smooth wheels of the railway, the shriek of the 
whistle, and the rush of the engine have made its story 
history. But it is the history of our past — the story 
of the heroic West." 

There are picftures and busts, or full-length statues, 
of almost every great man of our nation. Some of them, 
within one hundred 3^ears, will be turned over to the 
man's native State or town, with complimentary notes 
and speeches the inner meaning of which is: *' We 
need the room for bigger men." 

Before leaving the Capitol plaza a word must be said 
of Horatio Greenough's vStatue of Washington, which 
sits in lonely grandeur before the Capitol. Greenough 
was much in Rome, and the antique became his model. 
The statue represents Washington sitting in a large 
chair, holding aloft a Roman sword, the upper part 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

of his body naked, the lower part draped as Jupiter 
Tonans.* 

This conception brings out the majestic benignity of 
the face of Washington, and shows to the hfe every 
muscle and vein of his magnificent form. Greenough 
said of his own work : * * It is the birth of my 
thoughts ; I have sacrificed to it the flower of my days 
and the freshness of my strength ; its every lineament 
has been moistened with the sweat of my toil and the 
tears of my exile. I would not barter its association 
with my name for the proudest fortune that avarice 
ever dreamed of. ' ' 

The work, however, has met with more of criticism 
than of praise. A statue should represent a man in 
the costume of his time. Washington should have 
been showm either in the knee-breeches or in the full 
military costume of his period. We want no foreign 
effedfs in our statues. Washington had no aspiration 
to be either Jupiter or Mars, but he earnestly desired 
to be a good and useful man. 

In this connedfion a few words in relation to the 
characfter of future paintings that shall be seledled for 
the adornment of the Capitol may not be amiss. 

In Paris, at the Exposition in 1900, the writer was 
greatly impressed by the manner in which France per- 
petuates historic events. The best pidlure of the com- 
mission which settled the Spanish -American War w^as 
painted b}- a Frenchman, the best picture of the Peace 
Commission at the Hague was also French. One pic- 
ture, which will ever be valuable, represented Presi- 

* On May 27, 1908, Congress appropriated |5,ooo to move Greenough's 
statue of Washington to the Smithsonian Institute. The removal was 
made November 21, 1908. 

30 



SOME OF THE ART AT THE CAPITOL 

dent Camot and his Cabinet in the Exposition of 1889 
receiving the representatives of all the colonies of 
France. 

Our country should have pi(5lures of the inaugura- 
tion of the President, with his leading men about him ; 
also of the receptions on New-year's day, showing 
faces of foreign Ministers, the Cabinet, Members of 
the Supreme Court, and our naval and jinlitary com- 
manders. 

I remember one brilliant company at Secretary Endi- 
cott's, during the first Cleveland administration. The 
Ministers of various foreign nations, in court custumes 
and with all their decorations, were present. General 
Sheridan, full of life and repartee, was there. Gen- 
eral Sherman had come over from New York to grace 
with his presence the reception given by the Secretary 
of War. General Greely, of Arcftic fame, wore for the 
first time the uniform of a brigadier-general. All the 
leading arm}^ officers, in brilliant uniforms, were 
present. Senators Edmonds, Sherman, Logan, Evarts, 
Ingalls, Wade Hampton, Leland Stanford, Vance, 
Voorhees, Allison, with many others, were part ot 
that memorable company. Mrs. Stanford wore the 
famous Isabella diamonds. Among the guests were 
Secretaries Vilas, Whitney, Bayard, and their accom- 
plished wives ; Mr. Carlisle, then Speaker of the 
House, and his stately, genial wife ; and President and 
Miss Cleveland, who made an exception to the Presi- 
dential rule of non-attendance at such functions, and 
by their presence added to the pleasure of the occasion. 
Chief Justice Waite and Justices Field, Miller, Blatch- 
ford, Gray, and Strong were present. 

81 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

What a pic5lure for history that representative com- 
pany would now be ! We need an art fund — perhaps 
the Carnegie University beneficence may provide it. 
Concerning the Capitol building, Charles Sumner said : 
"Surely this edifice, so beautiful, should not be open 
to the rude experiment of untried talent. ' ' 

The Commission of Artists said : ' ' The erection of 
a great National Capitol occurs but once in the life of 
a nation. The opportunity such an event affords is an 
important one for the expression of patriotic elevation, 
and the perpetuation, through the arts of painting and 
sculpture, of that which is high and noble and held in 
reverence by the people ; and it becomes them as 
patriots to see to it that no taint of falsity is suffered 
to be transmitted to the future upon the escutcheon of 
our national honor in its artistic record. A theme so 
noble and worthy should interest the heart of the whole 
country, and whether patriot, statesman, or artist, one 
impulse should govern the whole in dedicating these 
buildings and grounds to the national honor. ' ' 




SOME PROMINENT SENATORS 

1 Beniamiii !•. Shively (D.j, Ind. 5- Nelson W. Aklrich (K ), R. I. 

I'liot,, CliM.-dinsI Wish C.ipynu'hl, Cliiu-ilinsl, UmsIi. 

2 Robert M. LaFollette (R), Wis. 6. Kugene Hale (K.) Me 

V. Elihu Root (R.). N. Y. 7- Joseph W Hailey (D > lexas 

rill to I'-icli Hros New Y. irk ( opvi itclit. IHHH, I larris A K\viti'„'. W ;i 

4. Henry Cabot Lodge (R.), Mass. 8. Francis (i. Newlands (D), Nev 

Copyright, Cline,li..st. W:.sh. ^ fhol,,. I'nmc-, VN ash. 

9. Charles A. Culberson (D.), 1 exas 




SOME PROMINENT REPRESENTATIVES 

1. John Dalzell (R.), Pa. 5. Joseph G. Cannon (R.), 111. 

Copyright, 190;., Harr.s A Kwinjc. Wash. C.l.vriu'hl. llarri. \ K« !.,«, WhsI,. 

2. Wilham Sulzer (D), N. Y. 6. James" A. Tawney (R ), Minnesota 

riiot... riiii.-.lii.st, Wasli. Coiivritilil. IHm;., Harris A K«in);, W.-ish. 

3. ''^ereno K. Payne (K.), N. Y. 7. Oscar W. Underwood (D.), Ala. 

» h-.l... l'..,<li Br..s., N-w York Cnj.vriKlit. \'M>V, Marri.s A KwiiiK, Wjush. 

4. David A. De Armond (D.), Mo. 8. Ollie M, James (D.), Ky. 

Coj.yrijfht, l;.09, Il.srrw A EwImk. Wa^h. Copyrlu'lit, 19(19, Harris A Kwinif, Wash. 

9. Champ Clark (D ). Mo. " 

Copyright, 19"9, Harris A K« iiiir, Wash. 



VII 

THE SENATE CHAMBER 



sly N visiting the Capitol building most people 
1^*- I desire first to see the Senate Chamber, pos- 
^P^l sibly from the fa(5l that the names of the 
Senators are more familiar, because, as a 
usual thing, men have been long in public life before 
they have become Senators. 

The Senate Chamber is 112 feet in length, 82 feet 
wide, and 30 feet high. The floor rises like that of an 
amphitheater ; the walls are white, buff, and gold in 
color, and the ceiling consists of panels of glass, each 
one bearing the coat of arms of a State. Opposite the 
main entrance, on a platform of dark mahogany, are 
the desk and chair of the President of the Senate, who 
is the Vice-President of the United States, or, as in the 
present administration, a Senator elected by his col- 
leagues to preside over them when the office of Vice- 
President has become vacant. Below the President is 
a larger desk for the use of the Secretary of the Sen- 
ate and his assistants. 

The heating and ventilating of the Senate Chamber 
is said to be very good. In winter, however, the room 
seems to be too warm. After an absence of fifteen 
years, 1 find men who have l^een in the Senate during 
that time have aged much more in appearance than 
their contemporaries outside. 

The mahogany desks of the Senators stand on a 

33 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

moss green carpet, making a good color combination. 
The room is surrounded by a gallery which seats 
about a thousand persons. This gallery is divided. 
There is a private gallery for Senators' families and 
friends, one part of which is set apart for the family 
of the President. It is seldom occupied by the dwell- 
ers in the White House, but often by visiting friends. 
The reporters' gallery is over the Vice-President's 
desk. There sit those busy, bright men who keep you 
informed of what the Senate is doing. The gallery 
opposite is for the diplomats. It is always interesting 
to watch the faces of these distinguished foreigners as 
they scan this body of lawmakers. Besides these there 
are the gallery for ladies, or for gentlemen accompanied 
by ladies, and the public gallery for men. 

The Senate is the citadel of American liberty. Its 
great debates have defined our constitutional rights 
and duties, and prevented many violations of funda- 
mental law. Here Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Benton, 
Chase, Sumner, Seward, Harrison, Edmunds, Evarts, 
Ingalls, Logan, and Wade Hampton, with hundreds 
of others equally eloquent and equally patriotic, have 
stood for the right as they saw it, or sold their souls 
for the mess of pottage. 

The Republicans sit on the Vice-President's left and 
the Democrats on the right. Although differing in 
ideas of governmental policy, we must believe both 
sides are adluated by a love of country. 

The world is beginning to expecft the United States 
to be the final court of appeals in behalf of the lesser 
nations, especially the other American republics. It is 
the Senate's natural destiny, because of its treaty- 
34 



THE SENATE CHAMBER 



making power, to facilitate a better understanding 
between nations, to prevent wrongs, to increase com- 
merce, to secure international peace, and thus to 
improve the governmental powers of the world. So 
will our republic be the bridge over which the nations 
of the earth will enter on a period of universal educa- 
tion and modified self-government. 

In ni}' youth, on a visit to Washington, I saw 
Schuyler Colfax preside over the Senate. He was a 
nerv^ous, restless man, who gave no attention to the 
Senator speaking, and while he was in the chair the 
Senate became a noisy, turbulent body. At another 
time, for a few hours, I saw Henry Wilson, who was 
Vice-President under Grant's second term, preside 
over the Senate. Quiet, self-contained, vSerene, watch- 
ful, attentive, he w^as an ideal presiding officer. EVery 
battle of life had left its mark on his strong, rugged 
face. 

In December, 1885, I came to Washington and re- 
mained three years. Vice-President Hendricks had 
died, and the Senate, which w^as Republican, was pre- 
sided over by John Sherman. He w^as in public life 
from 1848 to the time of his death, and his name was 
identified with almost every public measure from that 
time to the end of the century. He was a man of 
great wisdom and good judgment, but cold and with- 
out any of those qualities which tend to personal pop- 
ularity. Later, John James Ingalls, of Kansas, was 
ele(5led President/;-^ tempore. Tall, stately, dignified, 
scholarly, thou<^htful, a skilled parliamentarian, it is 
probable the Senate never had a better presiding 
officer. When Senator Ingalls occupied the chair the 

85 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

business of the Senate was put through with such 
celerity and dispatch that a visit to that usually prosy 
body became interesting. 

Later, I saw lycvi P. Morton, of New York, preside 
as Vice-President. He was a fine business man who 
had served his country with honor abroad, but had no 
training as a presiding officer. He was regarded as 
fair in his rulings. 

The Senate was later presided over by Senator Frye, 
of Maine, who has had a long experience in legislative 
bodies, having served six terms as representative from 
Maine, and having been eledled to the Senate in 1881, 
to fill the vacancy left by Blaine when he became 
Secretary of State under Garfield. He was also a 
member of the Peace Commission which met in Paris, 
September, 1898, to settle the terms of peace between 
the United States and Spain. The Senate is now pre- 
sided over by Vice-President Sherman, who has served 
twenty years as Representative from New York. He 
presided over the Republican Convention in 1895, 
1900 and 1908. 

When I take friends to the Senate now I notice 
they ask first for Mr. Aldrich, of Rhode Island; 
Bailey and Culbertson, of Texas; Lodge, of Massa- 
chusetts ; Nelson, of Minnesota ; Tillman, of South 
Carolina ; Root, of New York ; Owen and Gore, of 
Oklahoma ; Curtis and Bristow, of Kansas, and Dol- 
liver, of Iowa. 

When I was here from 18S5 to 1888 the following 
were the stars : Edmunds, who for qiiiet strength, 
massive force, persistent effort, fertility of resource, 
and keen sagacity was never surpassed on the floor. 



THE SENATE CHAMBER 



of the Senate. Like Mr. Hoar, his sentences in 
rhetorical and grammatical constru(5lion were fit for 
the Record just as they fell from his lips. William M. 
Evarts, of New York, famous as counsel in the Beech er 
trial, and attorney for the Republican party before the 
Electoral Commission. He seemed like a man about 
to do some great thing, but he originated no important 
national or international law. Eeland Stanford, noted 
for his philanthropy and great wealth, and Wade 
Hampton and Senator Butler, both of South Carolina, 
were pi(?turesque and interesting figures. General 
Eogan, Don Cameron, Preston B. Plumb, Blackburn, 
and Beck, of Kentucky, .stood next in interest, but 
most of these have given place to a 3'ounger gener- 
ation. 

The most interesting rooms in the north wing beside 
the Senate Chamber are the President's room, Vice- 
President's reception-rooms, and committee-room of 
the Distri(5l of Columbia. 

The walls of the President's room are in white and 
gold, with crimson carpet, taljle, and chair effedls — 
rather high lights if one had to liv^e in it, but ver}- 
pleasing for the short visits made by the President to 
the Capitol. On the last day of each term of Congress 
the President comes to this room for an hour or two 
and signs any bills which yet remain. He also answers 
the perfuncflory question as to whether he desires to 
present any further business to the Senate. 
* The Vice-Pre.sident's room is much more used. 
When the Vice-President in the Senate chamber grows 
tired "of wear}^ lawyers with endless tongues," he 
calls some one to the chair and slips into tlie \^ice- 

37 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

President's room, to rest and attend to his corre- 
spondence. 

Garrett A. Hobart was the fifth Vice-President of 
the United States to die during his term of office. 
The others were Klbridge Gerry, WiUiam Rufus King, 
Henry Wilson, and Thomas A. Hendricks. Gerry 
was one of the great statesmen of the revolutionary 
period and hailed from Massachusetts. He was Vice- 
President in 1812, and died November 23, 18 14, while 
on the way to the capital. 

Charles Warren Fairbanks, a Republican from 
Indianapolis, Ind., became Vice-President March 4, 
1905, at the beginning of Mr. Roosevelt's second term. 
Mr. Fairbanks never held public office prior to his elec- 
tion to the Senate in 1897, which place he held until 
he resigned to take the oath of Vice-President. 

Mr. Fairbank's influence in the City of Washington 
will long be remembered as one of the pleasant memo- 
ries of the Capital. At church fundlions, at philan- 
thropic or patriotic conventions, Vice-President Fair- 
banks found time in his overcrowded life to preside. 
In social life Mrs. Fairbanks was the idol of the 
D. A. R. women. Her hospitable home was ever open 
for receptions, fetes and parties, and not in this gener- 
ation will Washington see a family so universally be- 
loved and so universally regretted. 

James Schoolcraft Sherman, Republican of Utica, 
N. Y., took the oath of office as Vice-President, 
March 4, 1909. He had been a member of Congress 
for twenty 3' ears, and ranked as one of the five leading 
members of the House of Representatives. His abil- 
ity as a presiding officer is recognized in both branches 

38 



THE SEN^ATE CHAMBER 



of Congress. The Cabinet called together by President 
Taft is composed largely of new men at Washington. 

Mr. Philander Chase Knox, of Pennsylvania, takes 
up the duties of the State Department so ably filled by 
John Hay, Elihu Root, and Mr. Taft, with large 
knowledge of state affairs. 

Mr. Franklin McVeagh, of Chicago, an able business 
man, takes charge of the Treasury Department at a 
time when there is a deficiency in the Treasury, and 
with a new tariff law to enforce. 

Mr. Jacob McGavock Dickinson, like Mr. McVeagh, is 
a Democrat from Chicago. As Secretary of War he will 
need all his great acumen in managing the affairs of the 
nation from the Panama Zone to the Philippine Islands. 

Mr. George Woodward Wickersham, of New York, 
as Attorney- General is a law^^er of high personal and 
professional qualifications. 

Mr. George von Eengerke Meyer was transferred by 
President Taft from the Post-office Department, whose 
service he greatly improved, to the Secretaryship of 
the Navy. 

Mr. Frank Harris Hitchcock, the new Postmaster- 
General, has had long experience in postal affairs. 

Mr. Charles Nagel, of St. Louis, Mo., has had a 
business experience which will fit him for his arduous 
duties as Secretary of Labor and Commerce. 

Hon. James Wilson has been reappointed by Presi- 
dent Taft as Secretary of Agriculture, a position he 
has held for twelve years. 

Mr. Richard Achilles Ballinger, the new Secretary 
of the Interior, of Seattle, Wash., is of the New West. 
He has met a warm welcome at Washington. 

89 



VIII 

THE HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES 



^TT^ HK Hall of Representatives is in the south wing 

*• I of the Capitol, and is similar in form and 
^E« design to the Senate Chamber, being semi- 
circular, with a gallery of twelve hundred 
seating capacity extending around the entire hall. 

Like the Senate, the walls are white, buff, and gold, 
and the ceiling panels of glass, each showing in con- 
nedlion with a State coat of arms the cotton plant in 
some stage of development. 

The Speaker of the House sits at a desk of pure 
white marble, and in front of him are several desks 
for the Secretary and his many assistants. 

A silver plate on each desk bears the name of its 
occupant. As in the Senate, the Republicans occupy 
the left of the Speaker and the Democrats the right. 

When the House is in session the mace is in an up- 
right position at the table of the Sergeant-at-Arms 
on the right of the Speaker, and when the House 
is adjourned, or in committee of the whole, it is re- 
moved. 

The mace is a bundle of ebony rods, bound together 
with silver bands, having on top a silver globe, sur- 
mounted by a silver eagle. In the British House of 
Commons the mace represents the royal authorit}-, but 
in the United States it stands for the power of the 
people, which, tho not present in bodily form, yet is a 
40 



THE HOUSE OF RKPREvSENTATlVES 



force always to be reckoned with. The one now in 
the House has been in use since 1842. The Sergeant 
carries it before him as his S3mibol of office when en- 
forcing order, or in condu(5ling a 
member to the bar of the House 
b}^ order of the Speaker. 

The Speaker's room is across the 
lobby back of his chair, and is one 
of the most beautiful rooms in the 
buildihg. It has velvet carpet, fine, 
carved furniture, large bookcases 
and mirrors, and its walls, as well 
as the walls of the lobby, are hung 
with the portraits of every Speaker, 
from our first Congress to the 
present one. 

Most of the pi(5lures in the House 
of Representatives with wdiich I was 
familiar fifteen years ago have been 
removed. Now there remains but 
one — Brumidi's fresco representing 
General Washington declining the 
overtures of Lord Cornwallis for a 
two days' cessation of hostilities. 
Washington, like Grant, w^as an "unconditional sur- 
render " man. 

Each State is entitled to a number of Representatives 
in Congress, proportioned upon the number of its popu- 
lation. The vState is distridled by its own State Legis- 
lature. Then the distri(5l seledls its own man, who is 
supposed to understand its wants and needs, and eledls 
him to represent his people for two years. 

41 




THE IMACE 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

He must be twenty-five years of age, seven years a 
citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the State 
which he represents. There are about three hundred 
and fifty -six members and delegates. The latter rep- 




THE SPEAKER'S ROOM 



resent the territories of Oklahoma, New Mexico, 
Arizona, and Hawaii. 

Congress is an aggregate of selfish units, each 
fighting for his distric?t. No doubt good influences 
prevail, but no one class of men, either the extremely 
good or the extremely bad, has the entire say, for 
law is the formulated average public opinion of the 
age and country in which it is made. 

It can not be too strongly impressed upon the voters 
of this country that it is their duty to selecft good, 

42 



THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATlVEvS 

strong, noble men with high convicftions of public 
duty, and then to keep them in Congress term after 
term if they desire their district to be represented by 
anything more than a mere vote. Important places on 
committees are given men not alone in proportion to 
intelledlual merit, but in proportion to Congressional 
experience. All men will not become leaders from 
remaining there a long time, but none will without it. 

It is a wonderful thing to note the changes in the 
House since 1885. At that time John G. Carlisle was 
Speaker of the House. So fair in his rulings was Mr. 
Carlisle that one might spend hours in the gallery and 
be unable to decide which side he favored. 

Samuel J. Randall and Roger Q. Mills, of Texas, 
were the leaders on the Democratic side, and the Mills 
bill concerning tariff the chief obje(5l of legislative in- 
terest before the country. Springer, of Illinois, 
and Breckenridge, of Kentucky ; Crisp, of Georgia ; 
Hooker and Allen, of Mississippi, w^ere also among the 
leaders of the Democracy. Of these some are now out 
of politics, some are dead, and one disgraced. 

Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, was the acknowledged 
leader of the Republican side, with McKinle3% Cut- 
cheon. Burrows, Boutelle, Holman, Butterworth, Hen- 
derson, Payne, Morrill, of Kansas, Negley, of Penn- 
sylvania, and Cannon his backers. 

It was great fun to see Reed come down the aisle 
ready to punc5lure the pet plans of the Democrats. In 
sharp, keen, extemporaneous, parti.san debate he has 
never been excelled in this country, and possibly never 
in any other. No man ever appreciated his own power 
more accurately than he. He charged on few wind- 

43 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

mills; but when he placed himself in antagonism to a 
measure, it usually failed to pass, altho the Democrats 
had a working majority. When he became Speaker 
of the House, old members assured me, in spite of his 
name "Czar" Reed, he was not more arbitrary than 
either Blaine or Randall in the same position. As a 
presiding officer no man ever put the business of the 
House through more rapidly or more gracefully. He 
was a fine parliamentarian, quick in decisions and most 
able in his rulings. 

My note on McKinley in 1885 says: " He can not 
be considered a leader, for a leader is one who can 
champion a party measure. This he can not do, as he 
is not keen in repartee — the opposition walk all over 
him ; nor can he support a 7iew man. He makes two 
or three well-prepared, eloquent speeches each year ; 
these are usually on the tariff. He is a genial, pleasant 
gentleman, probably with more personal friends in the 
entire country than any one man now before the 
nation." 

William C. P. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, was con- 
sidered the most eloquent man for a prepared .speech 
on the Democratic side. But it was the eloquence of 
a musical voice, graceful gesture, and an abundant 
use of adje(?tives, not the eloquence of deep thought. 
While he was speaking it was hard to believe that it 
was not the best speech which could possibly be made 
on that subjecft. When one read it in the Record he 
wondered that he had been even interested. 

In December, 1889, Mr. Breckenridge ledlured in 
Clearfield, Pennsylvania, to the Teachers' Institute. 
His subjedl was " Kentucky's Place in History." 
44 



THE HOUSE OF REPREvSENTATlVES 

He began by saying : "I was a rebel. I am glad 
of it. If I had it to do again, I would do the same 
thing ! " Now, think of that before a Northern au- 
dience, especially in a mountain county which is always 
noted for patriotism. If his audience had been petri- 
fied they could not more quickly have frozen in their 
places. 

He told the thrilling story of Kentucky in words of 
matchless humor and pathos. He tried fun ; no one 
smiled, I was sitting on the platform, and the stories 
were so amusing I was obliged to retire to the wings, 
as to laugh in the face of that angry audience would 
have been an indignity. He tried pathos. No one 
melted. As he came from the stage, I said : ' ' Colo- 
nel, you gave a most eloquent address." 

' * What in thunder is the matter with that au- 
dience?" he said. I replied: ''When you said you 
did not regret being a rebel, and you would do the 
same again, you killed that audience so far as you 
were concerned." 

Just at that moment Mr. Matthew Savage, the 
County Superintendent, came up. He flung down on 
the table his check for one hundred dollars, and said : 
" Take that, but I hope never to see your face again. 
I am a Democrat, and the people of this county will 
think I hired you to come here and talk treason. You 
have spoiled my chances for the Legislature." The 
people, however, understood the case, and it did not 
hurt Mr. Savage politically. 



i5 



IX 

CONCERNING REPRESENTATIVES 



I 



T is not all * ' skittles and beer " to be a Senator 
or a Representative at Washington. The 
continued pressure from a man's constituents 
that he shall accomplish certain legislation 
for his distri(5l, and the iron-clad rules which prohibit 
his every movement, if in the House of Representa- 
tives, are enough to break an ordinary man's health. 

A new member goes to the House full of enthu- 
siasm, hoping to accomplish great things for those 
who have trusted him ; he finds that he is scarcely 
permitted to open his mouth the first term. But he does 
his best in committee, which is little enough ; he runs 
his feet off to get places for some hundreds of people 
from his distridl who must be taken care of. Then he 
keeps tr3dng to be a good party man, and to do some 
favor for the leaders, who, he hopes, will reward him 
by giving him an opportunity to accomplish much- 
needed legislation for his districft, till in his second or 
third term he becomes desperate, breaks out in meet- 
ing, and knocks things about generall}^ If he proves 
to be really an orator and succeeds in catching the ear 
of the House, he may then begin to be more than a 
mere party voter! On the other hand, he ma}^ be so 
squelched that he subsides into ' ' innocuous desue- 
tude." 

In the meantime he has borne all forms of unjust 

46 



■ ^ ly -g^ 




:im;.....;-iuuumi\\euu;uimM- 



CONCERNING REPRESENTATIVES 

and iinkind criticism at home. His opponents of his 
own party and of the opposite party point, in scorn 
and malice, to how little has been done for the dis- 
iridl, and tell in startling sentences how they would do 
it and how they will do it when they are eledled. 
Then a "nagger" comes to Washington, who is still 
u^orse. He demands a position, tells the Representa- 
tive how the latter owes his place to said nagger, and 
insists on being immediately made chief clerk of some 
department accessible only through the Civil Service, 
and needing four times the influence a new member can 
bring to bear. A man must learn to be serene under 
nagging, misrepresentation, and even positive lies, and 
rely upon time and his own best efforts to vindicate him. 

There have been more caucuses held during the last 
term than usual. A caucus is a good thing, as it gives' 
a man a chance to influence in a very slight degree 
the decisions of his party. (See Henry lyoomis Nel- 
son's excellent article in the Century for June, 1902.) 

The House (in 1909) is ruled by Speaker Cannon, 
Payne, of New York, Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, and 
Tawney, of Minnesota. How long will such a hier- 
archy, dominating nearly three hundred intelligent 
men, be permitted to exist? The House is run like 
a bank, of which the President and a few clerks do all 
the deciding. Any correspondent who has the ear of 
any of these few can tell you the fate of a measure l^e- 
fore it comes to vote. 

The chairmen of connnittees, and a few others who 
have l)een long in the House, are called into a com- 
mittee room to decide on how much debate will be 
permitted, who will be heard, and whether or not the 

47 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

bill shall pass ; and the rank and file, desiring to be 
good party men, obey orders, and the bill fails or goes 
through in exadlly the form decided upon by the clique. 
This is most un-American. It is true, more business 
is thus accomplished; but the business does not repre- 
sent the average public opinion of the House. 

The Committee on Rules, or its majority, constitutes 
a stone wall against which men break their hearts and 
ruin their reputations. Let us have less done, but 
let what is done be an average result of public opinion. 

The President can do but little to influence legisla- 
tion. His clubs are personality and patronage. If as 
persistent as Mr. Roosevelt, he may eventually get an 
"Administration" measure (like Cuban reciprocit}') 
through, despite opposition. Present Congressional 
methods make politicans out of men capable, under 
broader training, of becoming statesmen. But Mr. 
Roosevelt did not * ' arrive ' ' by the good will of the 
machine, but in spite of it. If he attains a second 
term, it will be against the plans of the machine ; 
but as in Lincoln's second term, politicians may be 
forced to nominate him, or themselves go down before 
the storm of public indignation. 

In the meantime legislators in the House will go on 
presenting little bills which they know they can never 
get passed, but printed copies of which can be sent to 
constituents to m^ake them believe that their represent- 
atives are really doing something. 

The present method has this benefit : it shuts off 
much of the lobbying which formerly disgraced the 
anterooms of Congress. 

There came a small cloud in the horizon. Mr. Little- 

48 



CONCERNING REPRESHNTATlVKvS 

field, of Maine, whom rumor claimed, at the opening 
of a former Congress, to represent Presidential opinion, 
vSaw his trust bill turned down. However, Mr, 
Littlefield alwa5'S delighted his hearers, who realized 
that his fight against commercial monopolies was no 
make-believe. 

The following extra(5ls from a speech of Hon. 
F. W. Cushman, of the State of Washington, on the 
question of reciprocity with Cuba, will throw much 
light on present legislative methods in the House of 
Representatives : 

THE RULES OF THE HOUSE 

We meet in this Chamber to-day a condition that challenges 
the consideration of every patriotic man, and that is, the set 
of rules under which this body operates, or perhaps it would 
be more nearly correct to say, under which this body is oper' 
ated. [Laughter.] 

Mr, Chairman, I deem it my duty, knowing as I do that this 
measure could not have been brought here in the shape in 
which it now is, save and excepting for the remarkable con- 
ditions created in this House by these rules — I say, sir, I deem 
it to be my duty to pause for a moment or two on the thresh- 
old of this debate and place a few cold facts about these 
rules into this Record and before the 70,000,000 of people to 
whom we are responsible. 

I approach this subject with a decided degree of deference. 
In the three years which I have been a member of this body 
I have endeavored to conduct myself with a modesty that I 
conceive to be becoming alike to the new member and to his 
constituency. I represent a Congressional district comprising 
the entire State of Washington, a Congressional district with 
half a million people in it, and with vast and varied interests 
demanding legislation for their benefit and protection in many 
of the channels of trade and branches of industry. 

It is with humiliation unspeakable that I rise in my place 
on this floor and admit to my constituents at home that in this 

40 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

House I am utterly powerless to bring any bill or measure, no 
matter how worthy or meritorious it may be, to a vote unless 
I can first make terms with the Speaker. 

It may be a matter of news to some of the good people 
within the confines of the American Republic to know that 
there is no way of getting an ordinary unprivileged measure 
considered and voted upon in this House unless it suits the 
Speaker. I am aware that there are several theoretical ways 
of getting a measure up; but they have no actual reality — no 
fruitage in fact. I make the statement on this floor now, that 
no member of this body who introduces a bill — not a private 
bill, but a public bill — can get it considered or brought for- 
ward for final determination unless it suits the Speaker. And 
if any one wants to deny that statement I am in a personal 
position and in a peculiarly happy frame of mind right now to 
give a little valuable testimony on that point! [Applause and 
laughter.] 

Imagine, if you please, a measure — not a private measure, 
but a public measure — which has been considered at length by 
a great committee of this House and favorably reported with 
the recommendation that it do pass. That bill is then placed 
on the "Calendar." The Calendar! That is a misnomer. 
It ought to be called a cemetery [laughter], for therein lie the 
whitening bones of legislative hopes. [Laughter.] When the 
bill is reported and placed on the Calendar, what does the 
member who introduced it and who is charged by his con- 
stituency to secure its passage do? 

Does he consult himself about his desire to call it up? 
No. Does he consult the committee who considered the 
bill and recommended it for passage? No. Does he consult 
the will of the majority of this House? No. What does he 
do? I will tell you what he does. He either consents that 
that bill may die upon the Calendar, or he puts his manhood 
and his individuality in his pocket and goes trotting down 
that little pathway of personal humiliation that leads — 
where ? To the Speaker's room. Ay, the Speaker's room. 
All the glories that clustered around the holy of holies in King 
Solomon's temple looked like 30 cents [prolonged laughter and 

SO 



coNCKRNiNO rp:presentatives 

applause] — yes, looked like 29 cents — compared with that 
jobbing department of this government ! [Applause and 
laughter.] 

Then you are in the presence of real greatness. What then ? 
Why, the Speaker looks over yotir bill, and then he tells jcw 
whether he thinks it ought to come up or not! 

There is a condition which I commend to the patriotic con- 
sideration of the American people. Contemplate that for a 
method of procedure in the legislative body of a great and 
free republic. 

WHO IS THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE? 

Who is the Speaker of this House who sets up his immacu- 
late and infallible judgment against the judgment of all 
comers? Is there anything different or superior in the cre- 
dentials that he carries from the credentials that were issued 
to you and to me from 70,000,000 of American people ? When 
he entered this House at the beginning of the Fifty-sixth and 
Fifty-seventh Congresses he was simply a Congressman-elect, 
bearing credentials like every other man on this floor. He has 
no greater power now than any other member, save the addi- 
tional power we ourselves bestowed upon him by electing him 
Speaker and then adopting this set of rules. The question 
that now arises to confront us is: Have we put a club in the 
hands of some one else to beat us to death ? Have we elevated 
one man on a pinnacle so high that he can not now see those 
who elevated him ? Is the Speaker of this House a mere 
mortal man of common flesh and clay, or is he supernatural 
and immortal ? What miracle was wrought at his birth ? Did 
a star shoot from its orbit when he was born, or did he come 
into existence in the good old-fashioned way that ushered 
the rest of us into this vale of tears ' 

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world 

I<ike a Colossus, and we petty men 

Walk under his huge legs and peep about 

To find ourselves dishonorable graves. 

Men at some time arc masters of their fates : 

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars 

But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 

61 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

I make no onslaught on the individual. I have a high re- 
gard for the Speaker of this House personally and for him 
politically ; but vi^e face the fact that we have adopted a set of 
rules in this body that are an absolute disgrace to the legisla- 
tive body of any republic. 

Throughout the entire three years of my service in this 
body I have been up against the little machine that dominates 
the proceedings and the deliberations of this House. During 
the entire three years prior to this time I have always treated 
that machine with the deference due to its age and its reputa- 
tion. I trust you will excuse my frankness when I tell you 
that from this time on I shall devote a little of my time and a 
tithe of my energy to putting a few spokes in the wheel of 
that machine that the designers of the vehicle never ordered. 
[Laughter.] 

I for one expect to live to see the day in this House not 
when the Speaker shall tell the individual members of this 
House what he is going to permit them to bring up, but when 
those individual members, constituting a majority, will in- 
form the Speaker what they are going to bring up for them- 
selves. 



52 



X 



THE SUPREME COURT ROOM 



g^ ONTiNUiNG our examinatiou of what is called 

^■^ ■ the original Capitol building, we would stop 

S^SI next at the Supreme Court room, once the 

Senate Chamber of the United States. For 

quiet, harmonious beauty it is unequaled by any 

other room in the building. 

It was designed by lyatrobe, after the model of a 
Greek theater — a semicircular hall, with low-domed 
ceiling, and small galler}^ back and over the seats 
occupied by the dignified judges of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. 

' ' The Bench ' ' is composed of large leather uphol- 
stered chairs, with the chair of the Chief Justice in 
the center, and those of the Associate Justices on either 
side. In front of these is a table around which the 
counsel are seated, and back of a railing seats are 
arranged around the wall for spe(5lators. 

On the walls are the busts of the former Chief Jus- 
tices of the United States : John Jay, of New York ; 
John Rutledge, of South Carolina ; Oliver Ellsworth, of 
Connedlicut ; John Marshall, of Virginia ; Roger B. 
Taney, of Maryland ; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio ; and 
Morrison R. Waite, of Ohio. Back of the judges is 
placed a number of graceful Ionic cohinuis of Potomac 
marble, the white capitals copied froin the Temple of 
Minerva. 

53 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

The Standard Guide of Washington pi(5lures the 
present court in this way : 



Og l^in^l'hhhhhl [jT] 



B . , B 

I '1 I 

SEATING PLAN OF THE SUPREME COURT CHAMBER 

Chief Justice occupies Chair No. i 
His colleagues sit on either side 
No. lo— Clerk's Desk No. 12— Reporters' Desk 

No. II— Marshal's Desk No. 13— Attorney-General's Desk 

No. 14— Counsel's Desk 

In this hall Webster answered Hayne, and here 
Benton and John Randolph made their great speeches. 
On the left side of the Senate stood Calhoun in many 
a contest with Clay and Webster on the right. 

One day Calhoun boasted of being the superior of 
Clay in argument. He said : " I had him on his 
back ; I was his master ; he was at my mercy. ' ' 

Clay strode down the aisle, and, shaking his long 
finger in Calhoun's face, said : " He my master ! Sir, 
I would not own him for my slave ! ' ' 

It is said to be the handsomest court room in the 
world. Every week-day from 0<5lober till May, 
except during Christmas and Easter holidays, just at 
twelve o'clock the crier enters the court room and 
announces : ' ' The Honorable Chief Justice and the 
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States," at which everybod}^ including visitors and 
lawyers, stand. Just then nine large, dignified old 
gentlemen, led by Chief Justice Fuller, kicking up 

54 



TKK SUPREME COURT ROOM 

their long black silk robes behind them, enter the 
room ; each, standing before his chair, bows to the 
lawyers, the lawyers and spe(5lators bow to them, then 
all are seated. 

The crier then opens court by saying : ' * O yea ! O 
yea ! O yea ! All persons having business with the 
honorable the Supreme Court of the United States are 
admonished to draw near and give their attendance, as 
the court is now sitting. God save the United States 
and this honorable court." 

After this quaint little speech business begins. 

The members of the court wear gowns like the eccle- 
siastical robes of the Church of England. This began 
in early daj^s when this country took English law and 
customs for pattern and precedent. 

The seats of the judges are placed in the order of 
the time of their appointment, the senior judges 
occupying seats on either hand of the Chief Justice, 
while the latest appointments sit at the farthest end of 
each row. 

This order of precedence extends even into the 
consulting-room, where the judges meet to talk 
over difficult cases, the Chief Justice presiding at the 
head. 

Our country is justly proud of its judiciary. The 
Supreme Court of our country is the last rampart of 
liberty. Should this court become corrupt our free 
institutions will surely perish. 

The Supreme Court of the United States has, how- 
ever, made some grave mistakes — witness the famous 
decision of Justice Taney — but, for the most part, time 
has only verified their decisions. 

65 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

The men who have sat here have not only been fair 
representatives of the legal knowledge of their day, 
but also men of unimpeachable integrity and of the 
highest patriotism. Many of them have been devout 
Christians. Some on the bench at present are among 
the best church workers of Washington. 

Courts are conservative bodies. Conservatism pro- 
duces nothing, but is useful in preserving that which 
enthusiasm has created. 

This Supreme Court room has been made further 
memorable as being the place in which, in 1877, sat 
the Eledlorial Commission which decided the Presi- 
dential contest as to whether Hayes, of the Republican 
party, or Tilden, of the Democratic party, should be 
the Executive of a great nation for four years. 

In the fall of 1876, when the eledlions were over, it 
was found that the result was in serious and danger- 
ous dispute. The Senate was Republican, the House 
Democratic. Each distrusted the other. It was feared 
that on the following 4th of March the country would 
be forced to face one of two series dilemmas : either 
that the country would have no President, or that two 
would-be Presidents would, with their followers, strive 
to enter the White House and take violent possession 
of the government. Men would have shot the way 
they voted. On the 7th of December, Judge George 
W. McCrary, a Representative of Iowa, afterward in 
Hayes's Cabinet, later a circuit judge of the United 
States, submitted a resolution which became the basis 
of the Ele6loral Commission. Three distant Southern 
States had sent to the Capitol double sets, of ele(5lion 
returns — one set for Mr. Tilden, one set for Mr. Hayes. 
56 



THE SUPREME COURT ROOM 

On these nineteen votes depended the Presidency for 
four years. 

If they were counted for Tilden, he would have two 
hundred and three votes and Hayes one hundred and 
sixty-six ; or, if counted for Hayes, he would have 
one hundred and eighty-five votes and Tilden one 
hundred and eighty-four. The States whose certifi- 
cates of election were in dispute were Florida, Louisi- 
ana, South Carolina, and Oregon. 

The members of the Elecftoral Commission were 
sele(5led either as representatives of their party, or men 
considered the embodiment of honor and justice. The 
Commission consisted of five Senators, five Judges of 
the Supreme Court, and five Representatives from the 
Lower House of Congress. The attorneys were the 
leading lawyers of each party. The Cabinet, leading 
Senators, Congressmen, foreign Ministers, and dis- 
tinguished people from all portions of the country, were 
present. The wit, the beauty, the writers, the wisdom 
of the country assembled in this room to weigh the 
arguments, and at last to hear the decision that 
Rutherford B. Hayes was rightfully to be the Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

This tribunal, and the wise patriotism of Mr. 
Tilden and his party, saved the country from a bloody 
civil war. 



57 



XI 



INCIDENTS CONCERNING MEMBERS OF THE 
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 



THE Chief Justice of the United States is the 
highest legal officer in this country. 
^il The position has always been filled by 

men of great learning and of high integrity, 
and, differ as we may concerning the wisdom and jus- 
tice of some Supreme Court decisions, yet we must 
believe the judges were sincere and honest in their 
renditions 

When the country loses confidence in the integrity 
of this court, the very foundation of our government 
will be in danger. 

The first Chief Justice was John Jay, appointed 
September 26, 1789. He soon resigned to accept the 
position of Envoy Extraordinary to England, where, 
after the Revolutionary War, the adjustment of our 
affairs demanded a person of great learning and skill. 
The country was fortunate in having John Adams, John 
Jay, and, later, John Quincy Adams as its represent- 
atives in this delicate and important service. 

John Rutledge, of South Carolina, was a later 
appointment to the Chief Justiceship, but the Senate 
refused to confirm the nomination. Then William 
Cushing, of Massachusetts, one of the Associate Jus- 
tices, was nominated and confirmed, but declined to 
serve. Oliver Ellsworth, of Connedlicut, was then 

58 



INCIDENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT 

appointed, and was confirmed by the Senate March 4, 
1796. He served till 1799, when he resigned to go as 
the Special Envoy and the Minister to England. 

John Jay was again nominated and confirmed by 
the Senate, but refused to serve. John Marshall, of 
Virginia, was appointed Chief Justice by President 
John Adams in 1801. He died in 1835. His term 
and that of Chief Justice Taney cover over vsixty im- 
portant years in the history of our government. 

John Marshall had served on the personal staff of 
Washington in the Revolutionary War, and had 
suffered the miseries and trials of the camp at Valley 
Forge. At the time of his appointment he was Secre- 
tary of State in Adams's Cabinet. He served in both 
capacities till the close of Adams's administration. 

The Supreme Court, when Marshall was called to 
preside over it, was held in a low- vaulted room in the 
basement of the Capitol, and remained there until the 
new wings were finished, about 1857. M^- Hllis, in 
" Sights and Secrets of Washington," tells this story 
of Marshall : ' ' Upon one occasion Marshall was 
standing in the market in Richmond, Va., with his 
basket containing his purchases on his arm, when he 
was accosted by a fashionable young gentleman who 
had just purchased a turkey. The young man's fool- 
ish pride would not allow him to carry the fowl through 
the streets, and, taking the Judge for a countryman, 
he asked him to carry it home for him. The request 
was promptly granted, and when the young man's 
home was reached he offered the supposed countryman 
a shilling for his trouble. The money was courteously 
refused, and upon asking the name of the person who 

59 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

had rendered him the service, the young man was not 
a little astonished and chagrined to learn that his 
thanks were due to the Chief Justice of the United 
States." 

A bet was once made that the Judge could not dress 
himself without exhibiting some mark of carelessness. 
He good-humoredly accepted the challenge. A supper 
was to be given him upon these conditions : If his 
dress was found to be faultlessly neat upon that occa- 
sion, the parties offering the wager were to pay for 
the entertainment ; but if they detedted any careless- 
ness in his attire, the expense was to fall upon him. 
Upon the appointed evening the guests and the Judge 
met at the place agreed upon, and, to the surprise of 
all, the Judge's dress seemed faultless. The supper 
followed. Judge Marshall being in high spirits over his 
vi(5fory. Near the close of the repast, however, one 
of the guests who sat near him chanced to drop his 
napkin, and, stooping down to pick it up, discovered 
that the Judge had put on one of his stockings with 
the wrong side out. Of course the condition of affairs 
was immediately changed, and amidst the uproarious 
laughter of his companions the Chief Justice acknowl- 
edged his defeat. 

Mr. Ellis also says : * * The following incident in his 
(Marshall's) life is said to have occurred at McGuire's 
hotel, in Winchester, Virginia : 

" It is not long since a gentleman was traveling in 
one of the counties of Virginia, and about the close of 
the day stopped at a public house to obtain refresh- 
ment and spend the night. He had been there but a 
short time before an old man alighted from his gig, 

60 



INCIDENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT 

with the apparent intention of becoming his fellow 
guest at the same house. As the old man drove up he 
observed that both of the shafts of the gig were 
broken, and that they were held together by withes 
formed from the bark of a hickory sapling. Our trav- 
eler observed further that he was plainly clad, that his 
knee-buckles w^ere loosened, and that something like 
negligence pervaded his dress. Conceiving him to be 
one of the honest yeomanry of our land, the courtesies 
of strangers passed between them, and they entered 
the tavern. It was about the same time that an addi- 
tion of three or four young gentlemen was made to 
their number — most, if not all of them, of the legal 
profession. As soon as they became conveniently 
accommodated, the conversation was turned by the 
latter upon an eloquent harangue which had that day 
been displayed at the bar. It was replied by the other 
that he had witnessed, the same day, a degree of elo- 
quence no doubt equal, but it was from the pulpit. 
Something like a sarcastic rejoinder was made as to 
the eloquence of the pulpit, and a warm altercation 
ensued, in which the merits of the Christian religion 
became the subje(5l of discussion. From six o'clock 
until eleven the young champions wielded the sword 
of argument, adducing with ingenuity and ability 
everything that could be said, pro and con. During 
this protra(5led ])eriod the old gentleman listened with 
the meekness and modesty of a child — as if he were 
adding new infcjrniation to the stores of liis own mind, 
or perhaps he was oljserving, with philosophic eye, 
the faculties of the youthful mind and how new ener- 
gies are evolved by repeated acftion ; or, perhaps, with 

CI 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

patriotic emotion, he was reflecfting upon the future 
destinies of his country, and on the rising generation, 
upon whom these future destinies must devolve ; or, 
most probably, with a sentiment of moral and religious 
feeling, he was colle(5ling an argument which, charac- 
teristic of himself, no art would * be able to elude, and 
no force to resist.' Our traveler remained a spectator, 
and took no part in what was said. 

" At last one of the young men, remarking that it 
was impossible to combat with long and established 
prejudices, wheeled around, and, with some famili- 
arity, exclaimed, ' Well, my old gentleman, what do 
you think of these things ? ' If, said the traveler, a 
streak of vivid lightning had at the moment crossed 
the room, their amazement could not have been greater 
than it was with w^hat followed. The most eloquent 
and unanswerable appeal that he ever heard or read 
was made for nearly an hour by the old gentleman. So 
perfedl was his recolledlion that every argument urged 
against the Christian religion was met in the order in 
which it was advanced. Hume's sophistry on the 
subjedl of miracles was, if possible, more perfecftly 
answered than it had already been done by Campbell. 
And in the whole ledlure there was so much simplicity 
and energy, pathos and sublimity, that not another 
word was uttered. An attempt to describe it, said the 
traveler, would be an attempt to paint the sunbeams. 
It was now a matter of curiosity and inquiry who the 
old gentleman was. The traveler concluded it was a 
preacher from whom the pulpit eloquence was heard. 
But no ; it was the Chief Justice of the United States. " 

Judge Marshall was followed by Roger Brooke 

62 



INCIDENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT 

Taney, of Mar34and, He was nominated by Presi- 
dent Jackson, and confirmed by the Senate in 1836. 
He died Ocftober 12, 1864. His decision in the Dred 
Scott fugitive case may be ranked as one of the fa<5lors 
which brought about the Civil War. The case was 
substantially this : A negro vSlave, with a wife and 
two children, sued his master for freedom under the 
plea that, having been taken North into free States a 
number of times, they were therefore entitled to free- 
dom. The decision covers many pages, but the nation 
summed it up in these words : * ' The black man pos- 
sesses no rights which the white man is bound to re- 
spedl." Since Moses established a judiciary no deci- 
sion ever made such a disturbance. In the memory 
of most people Taney's singularly pure life goes for 
nothing beside the infamy of this decision. It out- 
raged the conscience of mankind. Taney claimed 
that he did not make the law, he simply gave its in- 
terpretation. The decision was approved by the ma- 
jority of the court, but he alone was made to suffer 
the obloquy which followed. 

This decision proved sufficient to bring down the 
wrath of a just God on a nation so lost to human jus- 
tice. The South suffered for the sin of slavery, the 
North for conniving thereto. 

Judge Taney sleeps at Frederick, Md. (where most 
of his private life had passed), beside his wife, who 
was sister to Francis vScott Key, author of "The 
Star-Spangled Banner. ' ' 

In the summer of 1888 I heard Dr. Wardell, at 
Ocean Grove, N. J., tell this incident concerning 
Salmon P. Chase, who was appointed Chief Justice by 

63 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

President Lincoln in 1864, and who died in 1873. 
Dr. Wardell claimed to have the story diredl from Dr. 
Newman, then pastor of the Metropolitan Methodist 
Church, Washington, D. C. 

He said that Chief Justice Chase was in the habit of 
attending the Metropolitan Church, on Four and One- 
half Street, Washington, and Dr. Newman (afterward 
Bishop) noticed that while the Chief Justice was a 
member of the official Board, and attended faithfully 
to its duties, yet he always left the church when the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. 

After one such occasion Dr. Newman went to him 
and said : ' ' Why do 3'ou not avail yourself of the 
means of grace in the Lord's Supper ? " 

The Chief Justice answered : "I do not consider 
myself worthy to partake of the communion." 

The Do(5lor said : ' ' We invite all who love the Lord, 
and who do truly and heartily repent of their sins, to 
join with us in this service." 

"Yes, that is just it. What do you mean by 
' repent ' ? " 

Then the Dodlor gave him a full and clear explana- 
tion of repentance. 

On the next communion day instead of leaving the 
church the Chief Justice remained in his seat. After 
all had communed, Dr. Newman said : "If any soul 
feels its unfitness for this service, to him this invitation 
is specially given. If such a one fails to acknowledge 
the Savior and his own unworthiness before his fellow- 
men, we are assured that the Savior will not acknowl- 
edge him before his Father and His holy angels." 

The Chief Justice rose, and staggered, rather than 
64 



INCIDENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT 

walked, to the frout, and fell on his knees at the altar 
railing. After giving to the kneeling man the bread 
and wine, the Do(5tor, seeing the strong face of the 
penitent drawn with grief, with the Justice still kneel- 
ing, pronounced the benedi(5lion and dismissed the 
congregation. 

The next day, in the robing-room of the justices, 
Chief Justice Chase said to Justice Miller: "Oh, L 
want to tell you to-day what the Lord has done for my 
soul ! He came very near me yesterday." 

Justice Miller replied : * * Well, we will talk of that 
some other time ; now we have the wages of sin and 
not righteousness before us. ' ' 

After court adjourned that afternoon, the Chief 
Justice went down to Alexandria to see an old servant 
who had sent for him. He said to her : " Oh, Auntie, 
I received a great blessing yesterday ; all life is differ- 
ent. I want to have a closer walk with God." 

Within a few days he went to New York to transacfl 
some business. The morning after his arrival he did 
not come down to breakfast. The clerk waited till 
eleven o'clock, and receiving no answer to his frequent 
knocks, the door was forced, and there was found the 
dead body of the Chief Justice. He had entered on 
his closer walk with God. 

It was well known throughout the country that Lin- 
coln was not in harmony with Chase, even when the 
latter was Secretary of the Treasury, but Carpenter, 
in his " vSix Months in the White House," says: 
"Notwithstanding his apparent hesitation in the ap- 
pointment of a successor to Judge Taney, it is well 
known to his intimate friends that there had never been 

65 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

a time during his Presidency, when in the event of 
the death of Judge Taney, Mr. Lincohi had not fully 
intended and expe(fted to nominate Salmon P. Chase 
for Chief Justice." 

The appointment must have come to Chase with a 
little of the effedls of " coals of fire," for he had not 
been very loyal to I^incoln. He had the Presidential 
bee in his own bonnet. 

From 1874 to 1888 Morrison R. Waite, of Ohio, was 
Chief Justice. Our present Chief Justice, Melville 
W. Fuller, of Illinois, was called to the highest judicial 
position in the country in 1888. 



66 



XII 

TEACHING PATRIOTISM IN THE CAPITOL 



/^ XK can faucy a patriotic Englishman taking his 

mfffLi son to Westminster Abbey, and there telling 

^Ml him the story of liberty, in the history of 

the renowned dead who sleep about him, 

until the youth is inspired with a patriotism deeper 

than the love of kindred, and second only to the love 

of God. 

So an American father who desires his children to 
assume their proper place among the great force of 
American youth who are to perpetuate American 
institutions, might well bring them to the Capitol of 
the nation, and there in glowing words, and amid re- 
minders of every decade of the nineteenth century and 
the latter part of the eighteenth, tell the story of 
liberty as shown in republican institutions. 

He could also take his children to Mount Vernon 
for a day; there they might read together the history 
of that serene, majestic characfter whose eminence has 
carried him beyond national lines and made him be- 
long to the world as well as to us — a citizen of all 
lands and of all ages. 

History is best told by l^iography. Around Wash- 
ington would be grouped John Adams, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, and Alexander Hamilton. These men, without 
a precedent to follow, launched a new goverinnent, 
establishing all the departments of its great machinery 

67 



WASHINGTON : ITS SICxHTS AND INSIGHTS 

with such wisdom, justice, and patriotism that what 
they did, what they thought and planned, but were 
not able to complete, is to-day the standard of patriot- 
ism and national achievement. 

Then would follow that man whose life grows radi- 
ant in the strong search-light of history — ^John Quincy 
Adams ; that Adams, who could truthfully say at the 
clo.se of a long, brilliant, and useful life, in the words 
of an old Roman : " I have rendered to my country all 
the great service she was willing to receive at my hand, 
and I have never harbored a thought concerning her 
which was not divine." With him would be his com- 
peers, Madison, Monroe, Burr, Clay, Webster, Jackson, 
John Randolph, the elder Bayard, and Calhoun. 

That father would not fail to make plain the stern 
patriotism of Andrew Jackson and Daniel Webster 
against the insidious treason of Calhoun and his 
coterie. 

During the early days of President Jackson's 
administration he gave a state dinner in honor of Jef- 
ferson's birthday. On his right sat Calhoun, Vice- 
President of the United States, and up to this time the 
intimate friend and confidential adviser of the Execu- 
tive. On Jackson's left sat Webster, with the black 
brows of Jove. 

The toasts of the evening had been ambiguous. Mr. 
Calhoun gave this toast: "Our union, next to our 
liberties the most dear ; it can only be preserved by 
respecfting the rights of States, and by distributing its 
burdens and its benefits equally." 

Webster nudged the President. Old Hickory sprang 
to his feet and gave the toast : ' ' Our federal union ; 



PATRIOTlvSM IN THE CAPITOL 

it must be preserved." Kvery man drank it standing, 
Calhoun among the rest. 

How near our country came to open rebellion is 
shown in the last hours of Jackson. A friend at his 
bedside said : ' ' What would you have done with Cal- 
houn and his friends had they persisted in nullifica- 
tion ? " " Hanged them, sir, as high as Haman. They 
should have been a terror to traitors for all time," 
said the dying statesman. 

That father could tell part of the story of liberty 
in the life of the younger Adams. At the age of 
eleven Adams decided that he would be a Christian. 
He said : "Of this one thing I must make sure : I 
shall humbly serve God. If He makes me a great 
man, I shall rejoice ; but this He surely will do : if I 
trust Him, He will make me a useful man." 

God took Adams at his word. He sought the 
Kingdom first. God added place. Adams was diplo- 
mat. Senator, Secretary of State, President, Congress- 
man. He might well say with his dying breath, as he 
was carried from his place in the old House of Repre- 
sentatives to the Rotunda, " This is the last of earth, 
but I am content." 

Well he might be content. He had been a faithful, 
honest, upright Christian man, who had received at 
the hands of his fellow citizens the highest honors 
they could confer, and in his death he passed to a home 
among the redeemed, there with enlarged intelligence 
and clearer vision to continue his work for God in 
the beyond. 

In this day, when writers are striving to make black 
appear white, tlie fatlier who would mingle Christian- 

69 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

ity with patriotism would not fail to sketch the life of 
Aaron Burr in contravSt with the young Adams. 

Burr tells us that at the age of eighteen the Spirit 
of God came upon him with such power that he fled to 
the woods to settle that great question which faces 
every human being — " Shall I be a Christian ? " He 
said to himself : "I purpose as a lawyer to succeed by 
the tricks of the trade. There is many a short cut in 
business which a Christian could not take, therefore I 
shall not be a Christian." 

He tells us that the Spirit of God never again 
troubled him. He sinned against the Spirit, that un- 
pardonable sin. Left to himself, his destiny led him 
to a high place only to make his fall more terrible. 
Socially he was the most charming man of his day, 
but he entered no home which he did not defile. No 
woman loved him but to her sorrow. 

Burr was holding the position of Vice-President as a 
Republican when he was nominated by the Federalists 
for Governor of New York. Some of the leading men 
of that party refused to support him, among them 
Hamilton. This led to the duel in which Hamilton 
was killed, July ii, 1804. 

Burr was disfranchised and banished by the laws of 
New York, and was indi(5led for murder by the authori- 
ties of New Jersey for having killed Hamilton on the 
soil of that State. He could not enter either New 
York or New Jersey to settle his business. He was 
bankrupted, and more than $5,000 in debt when all 
his property had been sold and the results paid over. 

The day before the duel Burr had a right to sup- 
pose himself a more important man than Hamilton. 

70 



PATRIOTlvSM IN THE CAPITOL 

Was he not Vice-President? Had he not just received 
a majority of the votes of the City of New York for 
Governor of that State, in spite of Hamilton's greatest 
exertions ? Yet the day after the duel the dying Ham- 
ilton had the sympathy of every human being, and 
Burr was a fugitive from justice, not knowing friend 
from foe. Never was there a greater revulsion of 
feeling. 

Southern men tried to console him by their more 
courteous demeanor. Between the time of the duel 
and the convening of Congress, Burr had kept himself 
south of Mason and Dixon's line, for in any Northern 
State he would have been arrested on a requisition on 
the Governor. 

He went back to Washington and again presided 
over the Senate, but was simply scorched by the open, 
daily manifestations of the scorn of Northern Senators. 
The Southern men w^ere more courteous in their de- 
meanor. On Saturday, March 2d, he took leave of 
the Senate. That body was in executive session, 
therefore no spe(5lators were present. Mr. Burr, one 
of the most eloquent as well as one of the handsomest 
men of his day, rose in his place after the galleries 
had been cleared. He began his address by saying 
that he had intended to remain during his constitu- 
tional time, but he felt an indisposition coming upon 
him and he now desired to take leave of them. 

The silence could be felt. There was no shorthand 
reporter present, and exacftly what he said is not now 
known — perhaps nothing very different from what 
other retiring Vice-Presidents have said. No refer- 
ence was made to the duel, none to the scorn he had 

71 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

merited, unless it were in his words, " For injuries re- 
ceived, thank God, I have no memory." 

He thanked the Senators for kindness and courtesy. 
He prophesied that if ever political liberty in this 
country died its expiring agonies would be witnessed 
on the floor of the United States Senate. As he walked 
out no man rose, no man shook hands with him ; when 
the door closed on him it shut him out forever from 
position, usefulness, home, country, the love of women, 
and the friendship of men. 

At the President's reception on the following Hon- 
ing two Senators were relating the circumstances to a 
group which had gathered round them. On being 
asked, "How long did Mr. Burr speak?" one of 
them answered, "I can form no idea; it may have 
been a moment and it may have been an hour ; when 
I came to my senses I seemed to have awakened from 
a kind of trance." 

Burr, hurled from power and honor, wandered a fugi- 
tive from justice, and at last would have been laid in 
a pauper's grave but for the care of a woman who had 
loved him in his better days. 

Surely the Psalmist was right when, speaking of the 
righteous and the unrighteous, he said : " And he shall 
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth 
forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also vShall not 
wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The 
ungodly are not so : but are like the chaff which the 
wind driveth away." 



72 



XIII 

PEOPLE IN THE DEPARTMENTS 

A30UT one-third of all the employees in the 
,.,^__^ government departments at Washington are 
^^S women. Several receive over $2,500 per 
annum, about fift}^ receive $1 ,600 per annum, 
one hundred receive $1,400 per annum, four hundred 
and fifty receive $1,200, three hundred receive $1,000, 
and the remainder receive from $600 to $900 per annum. 

The Civil Service Commission records for last year 
show that 3,083 women were examined for the various 
positions opened for them under the civil service. Of 
these, 2,476 passed and 444 were appointed. Of the 
applicants examined, 1,351 came under the head of 
" skilled labor." 

The most popular examination for women is that 
of stenographers and typewriters. ' * Good stenogra- 
phers " is the ceaseless demand of the department 
official — not mediocre, but good par excellence. 

Government work is well paid only when well done. 
Promotions are at least sometimes the reward of merit. 
A very striking illustration of this occurred last winter, 
when a young woman was made chief of one of the 
divisions in tlie Post-Office Department ])ecause she 
knew more al)out the work of tliat ])articular division 
than any other employee in it. She receives a salary 
of $2,240 — among the highest paid to any woman in 
the service. 

7H 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

In the States a position at Washington is looked 
upon as most desirable, but except for the highest posi- 
tions, and for the name of it, no ambitious man or 
woman who desires to secure a competence by middle 
life should consider a place in the departments. 

There are nearly six thousand classified clerkships 
in the departments, and many thousands of ungraded 
positions. Clerks of the first class receive $1,200 per 
year; of the second, $1,400; of the third, $1,600; 
of the fourth class, $1,800. In ungraded positions, 
salaries range from $700 to $1,000. 

Chief clerks receive from $1,800 to $2,700 ; stenog- 
raphers and translators of languages from $1,200 to 
$2,000 ; copyists from $60 to $75 per month. Thirty 
days' vacation, without loss of salary, is allowed each 
year, and in case of violent illness no pay is deducted. 

Hundreds of fine young men, well educated, who 
ought to be in the manufacturing businesses of otir 
country where they could develop, tamely accept from 
$700 to $1,000 a year for mechanical work. In the 
last few years there has been wonderful improvement 
in the work done by department people. In 1885 I was 
impressed by the flirtations in corners, the half hours 
which were wasted in visiting by people receiving 
government money. But few are idle now — at least, 
where a visitor can see. They are all at their desks 
promptly at 9 a.m.; they work till 4 p.m., w^ith half 
an hour at noon for luncheon. No bank records as 
to puncftuality, regularity, and diligence can V)e more 
closely kept than those of the departments. There are 
so many who are eager to take an idler's place that 
no one dares to fritter away his or her time. 

74 



PEOPLE IN THE DEPARTMENTvS 

It is vSaid that if a woman banks on her femininity 
with chiefs of divisions, or has unusnal Senatorial 
backing, she may dare to take some hberties — she may 
be idle or incompetent, and not be reported ; but these 
cases grow fewer in number. 

Now, as to civil service examination. No one can 
get into the classified service without it ; but in most 
places, when one has passed the highest examination, 
it takes Congressional influence to get a position. 
Whatever may be the conditions in the future, there 
never has been a time when influence was more used 
than in the session of Congress ending July i, 1902. 
In making up the Bureau of Permanent Census, it was 
not merit but influence which secured a place. Merit, 
of course, helps everywhere, but in the session referred 
to three-fourths influence to one-fourth merit were 
necessary to secure any position. 

There were twenty places to fill in the Congressional 
Library, where it is claimed influence counts least. 
Eighteen hundred people applied for the twenty places, 
and of course those with Senatorial influence were 
appointed. No doubt their qualifications also entered 
into the account. 

Seven hours, frequently .spent in close, confined 
rooms, doing work which brings no mental improve- 
ment, often with a fretful, over-critical chief, anxious 
to get an incuml)ent out in order to put in his own 
friend, does not look to me like a desirable position. 

It is evidently intended to give places more and 
more to men who can go home and help manage elec- 
tions. It will not be until woman suffrage prevails in 
the States that women will ha\'e an (ji[\u\\ opportunity 

75 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

with men, even in the work world. Then department 
people are ever anxious about their places. At each 
change of Congress new people 7mist be taken care of, 
and much more is this true when the Executive is 
changed. The Washington Post of July 15, 1902, has 
this editorial : 

The latest civil-service order of President Roosevelt is ad- 
dressed to this evil. One can not avoid wishing that it had 
been issued early in December, 1901, instead of in July, 1902 
— before, instead of after, a long session of Congress, during 
which the ' pull " was industriously plied with the usual re- 
sults. But "better late than never." It is a good order, and 
its influence should be seen and felt in the improvement of 
the service. Altho it was printed in the Post as soon as it 
was made public, it will bear reproduction. Here it is : 

No recommendation for the promotion of any employee in the classified 
service shall be considered by any officer concerned in making promo- 
tions except it be made by the officer or officers under whose supervision 
or control such employee is serving ; and such recommendation by anj' 
other person with the knowledge and consent of the employee shall be suf- 
ficient cause for debarring him from the promotion proposed, and a repe- 
tition of the offense shall be sufficient cause for removing him from the 
service. 

When we speak of that order or rule as good, we mean to 
say that it will prove so if faithfully and impartially enforced; 
otherwise, it may only aggravate existing wrongs. For ex- 
ample, suppose three clerks, A, B, and C, in the same divi- 
sion are aspirants for promotion to fill a vacancy in a higher 
grade. Suppose each of them to have very influential friends, 
whose recommendation, were it proper to use it, might be the 
controlling factor in the disposal of the prize. But A and B 
obey that rule, relying on their respective records, while C 
quietly hints to his friend or friends that a little boosting 
would do him a great service. A personal call on the official 
"under whose supervision or control such employee is serving" 
— a personal call by Senator X or some other statesman of 
weight — ensues, and C is promoted as a result of that call. 

76 



PEOPLE IN THE DEPARTMENTS 

That is what has happened in almost numberless cases. , Will 
it stop now? If "yes," the President's order will prove a 
great promoter of reform in the civil service ; if " no," it will 
work in the opposite direction. 

I took this editorial to a number of leading people 
in the departments. "Yes," they said, "something 
like that usually comes out about this time of the year 
when Congress has adjourned. Even if President 
Roosevelt means what he says, it can scarcel}^ be exe- 
cuted. The system is so complex, with so many 
wheels within wheels, that patronage can hardly be 
stopped. If a chief fails to promote a Senator's niece, 
Mr. Chief will be apt to lose his own place, and this 
consideration brings wisdom." Conditions have not 
changed in 1909. 

When a man or a woman has been four or five years 
in a clerical government office, he or she is scarcely fit 
for any other kind of place. In that time has been lost 
ingenuity, resourcefulness, adaptation, how to placate 
or please the public, and, above all, confidence to fight 
in the great battle of industries; consequently, when dis- 
missed, the former place-holder hangs about Washing- 
ton, hoping for another situation. One can see more 
forlorn, vanquished soldiers of fortune in the national 
capital than in any other city of its size in the world. 

If one desires to make a living only, and not lay up 
for a rainy day, or if one has clerical talent only, then 
a Washington position might be desirable; but when 
one sees great, able-bodied men opening and shutting 
doors for a salary, or a man capable of running a foun- 
dry operating an elevator in a government building, it 
disgusts him with the strife for place. Government 

4 77 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

clerkships may be desirable for women, but few of 
them should claim the ability of first-class men. It is 
commercial death to become once established in a de- 
partment at Washington. 

The government has many first-class scientists in its 
employ, people with technical knowledge. These are 
the rare souls who, while they know more than their 
fellow men, care less for money, and have neither time 
nor ability to make it. For such men a good position 
in the Agricultural, Geological, Smithsonian, Educa- 
tional, Indian, or other scientific departments is de- 
sirable, but for no other class. 

In no other place than Washington can one better 
see the fadl illustrated that once in each generation 
the wheel of fortune makes a complete revolution, 
turning down those at the top and turning up those 
who are down. In the departments are now many 
widow^s and daughters of men who were prominent in 
Civil War times. One woman eighty-two years of 
age was during the war the wiie of a great general. 
She now sits at a department desk from nine to four 
daily, and no one does better work. 

The old charge of immorality among the women of 
departments is now seldom heard in Washington. 
Among the thousands there must be a few black sheep, 
but women have ways of making life so uncomfortable 
for a derelidl that she prefers to resign and occupy a 
less public position. No Congressional influence can 
shelter her head from the scorn of other women. 

Corruption is more likely to originate with chiefs of 
subdivisions, as in the recent case of young Ayres 
of the Census Bureau, who was killed, and Mrs. 

78 



PKOPLE IN THE DEPARTMENTvS 

Boniue, who was acquitted of his murder. The 
trial Avas a mere farce, for society felt that whoever 
killed the vile libertine who had used his place to 
seduce or browbeat young girls had .served society. 
Justifiable homicide would doubtless be the verdi(5l 
should death strike a few others. Such cases are, 
however, rarer than in commercial communities. The 
people of the departments largely constitute the mem- 
bership of the churches of Washington. Senators and 
Congressmen, with their wives, do not bring letters 
from their home churches, but the department people 
do. The latter pracftically support the churches and 
the religious institutions and religious work of the 
districft. 



79 



XIV 

INCIDENTS IN AND OUT OF THE DEPARTMENTS 



tl T MUST go down to the Census Office to hold a 
- i^ 1 scrub- woman in her place," vSaid a Western 
^^^1 Congressman to me. He added : "Let me 
tell you about her. She does not belong to 
my State, but you will not be surprised that I propose 
to hold her in her poor place, which brings $20 per 
month, when I explain her case. She is the widow of 
a regular army officer. Her husband in the Civil War 
was twice promoted for personal bravery. His native 
town presented him with a sword as a tribute of his 
courage. His widow scrubs floors along with colored 
people, and his only daughter does menial service twelve 
hours a day in the printing-office. Of course the widow 
is too old for a Civil Service place, and that is the best 
I can do for her. She has no G. A. R. influence, her 
husband was so long a regular that she has no State 
back of her. I am glad to do what I can." 

Not long ago the beauty of a country town, let us 
say of Texas, was brought to Washington for a place. 
Her Congressman's quota of positions was full ; he 
knew, however, of one place which was ably filled by 
a Southern woman who came here with President 
Johnson's family as instrucftor for his grandchildren. 
President Johnson had, before leaving, secured her a 
place in a department, and now the Texan asked her 
official head in the interest of the beauty. The girl 

80 




Chiff Justice Melville W. Kuller 

1. Justice William H. Moody 5. Justice Oliver \V. irolmes, Jr. 

2. Justice Joseph McKeima (,. justice Rufus W. Peckham 

3. Justice Johu M Harlan 7. Justice William K. Day 

4. Justice David J. Hrewer S, Justice fCdward D. White 



IN AND OUT OF THE DEPARTMENTS 

was bright, flippant, and loud. She used her first 
month's wages to obtain a red velvet dress cut square 
in the neck to show her white, firm skin. She did 
her work fairly well, but one day people in her depart- 
ment heard a scream, and they also heard some one 
getting a severe slapping of the face amid cries of * * I 
have a big brother in Texas, and it will take him only 
two days to get here, and he'll beat the life out of 
you ! ' ' etc. 

A shamefaced clerk was seen to emerge from the 
room. When the others rushed in they found the girl 
in a dead faint which was followed by hysterics. Then 
the women said, '* Aha ! you got what you deserved 
with your red dress, your loud manners, and flippant 
talk." 

The girl replied, ''Well, I think you should have 
had the decency to tell me that before, if my dress 
and manners exposed me to insult. You will see, I 
shall learn." Sure enough, the girl did learn to dress 
quietly, and is now an efficient, decorous helper. 

The wife of one of the new-rich, who have come to 
Washington to spend their money in social life, was 
being taken through the Census Department when 
they had on the full force of several thousand. Look- 
ing over that crowd, every one of the intelledlual rank 
of a first-class teacher, she said : ' * Ah ! I see now 
what makes servants so very scarce in Washington ! ' ' 
Each one of these classed as of the rank of servants 
had passed an entrance examination which her lady- 
ship could not have stood, even if her life had de- 
pended upon it. 

One of the peculiar features of department life is 

81 



WASHINGTON: ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

that it seems to dry up the milk of human kindness. 
A man will move heaven and earth to get a high situ- 
ation under the government, then when others ask 
from him less than he has asked of his friends, the 
applicant is made to feel like a beggar. He is advised 
to go home and tend to his own affairs — which may 
be very good advice, but comes with bad grace from a 
government official. 

I knew a man from the South, the editor of a relig- 
ious paper, the most important man in the county, 
who came to Washington to ask for the post-office of 
his own town. His credentials had the endorsement 
of every bank, every business house, every preacher, 
dodlor, and teacher in his town. He was permitted 
to get as near headquarters as the Fourth Assistant 
Postmaster, where he was told Senator Blank would 
have that appointment. The Senator appointed a 
Catholic in that town where there are not over forty 
Catholics, and where a lyUtheran College alone gets 
more mail than the entire Catholic population. The 
new man was a person non gj^ata to the entire town, 
but the Senator had paid a campaign debt. 

Every person in Washington knows the sad life story 
of a famous Washington woman — though it will be 
fifty years before the full details can be publicly told — 
daughter of a distinguished Western Senator, the 
Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the 
United States, the loved wife of a New England Sena- 
tor, who was divorced, and then began a downward 
course, ending in ruin alike to her fortune and prestige, 
which had best remain untold for this generation of 
readers. 
82 



IN AND OUT OF THE DEPARTMENTS 

Older people will remember that one of Grant's 
Cabinet was forced to resign because of fraud in the 
War Department. Valuable contracfls were let, and 
the wife of this official, totally unknown to her hus- 
band, took thousands of dollars for her influence in 
securing these contracfts. At last trouble was threat- 
ened. Congress appointed a committee to investigate. 
The night before the exposure madame attended a 
great ball at one of the legations. The French Min- 
ister said : "I have been in most of the courts of 
Europe ; I have never seen any one, not even queens, 
better dressed than madame. ' ' She wore a dress lit- 
erally covered with point-lace, a point-lace fan, and 
more than $40,000 worth of diamonds. 

Three Congressmen present knew what the next day 
would reveal. On that day the Secretary was called 
before the committee. They soon saw that he knew 
nothing about the matter. Madame heard what was 
going on and suddenly appeared before the committee. 
She threw herself on her knees before them and en- 
treated shelter from disgrace. 

The Secretary resigned at once. He sacrificed his 
entire property to pay back the fraudulent money. 
He opened a law office in Washington, but soon after 
died ; of course, people said he died of a broken heart. 
Madame went abroad at once, and did not return till 
after her husband's death. She now conducfts a house 
in Washington where men and women lose their souls 
in gambling or worse. 



XV 

TREASURY DEPARTMENT 



THE Treasury building, on Pennsylvania Ave- 
^ nue and Fifteenth Street, was located by 
j^^^ President Jackson just east of the White 
House so as to obstruct his view of the 
Capitol, at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. It 
is said that he grew tired of th^ little diflFerences of 
opinion between the commissioner and the architedl, 
Robert Mills, and one day in ill humor he struck his 
staff in the earth and said : "I want the chief corner- 
stone of the Treasury building placed just here!" 
You may be sure it was placed just there. 

The Secretary of the Treasury superintends the col- 
le(ftion and disbursement of all government revenue 
from every source, except the Post-Office Department. 
It takes many buildings to provide for the work of the 
Treasury Department. 

The Congressional Directory says : 

The Secretary of the Treasury is charged by law with the 
management of the national finances. He prepares plans 
for the improvement of the revenue and for the support 
of the public credit ; superintends the collection of the 
revenue, and prescribes the forms of keeping and rendering 
public accounts and of making returns ; grants warrants for 
all moneys drawn from the Treasury in pursuance of ap- 
propriations made by law, and forthe payment of moneys into 
the Treasury ; and annually submits to Congress estimates of 
the probable revenues and disbursements of the Government. 

84 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT 



He also controls the construction of public buildings ; the 
coinage and printing of money ; the administration of the 
Revenue-Cutter branch of the public service, and furnishes 
generally such information as may be required by either 
branch of Congress on all matters pertaining to the foregoing. 
The routine work of the Secretary's office is transacted in 
the offices of the Supervising Architect, Director of the Mint, 
Director of Engraving and Printing, and in the following 
divisions : Bookkeeping and Warrants ; Appointments ; Cus- 
toms ; Public Moneys ; Loans and Currency ; Revenue-Cutter; 
Stationery, Printing, and Blanks ; Mails and Files ; Special 
Agents, and Miscellaneous. 

A few minutes' thought on the above will show that 
this is the very heart of the government of our coun- 
tr3\ Its pulsations send the currency through all the 
avenues of commerce ; if it became bankrupt, disaster 
would follow in every other department of the govern- 
ment, and the prosperity of other nations would be un- 
favorably affedled. 

The Treasury building was completed in 1841. It 
has undergone considerable enlargement and many 
modifications since that time. It is 460 feet on Fif- 
teenth Street, and has a frontage of 264 feet on 
Pennsylvania Avenue. It is Grecian in architedlure. 
On each of the four sides are large porticos with most 
graceful yet massive Ionic columns. The flower 
gardens about the Treasury are among the most beau- 
tiful in the city. 

It would greatly surprise Alexander Hamilton, our 
first Secretary of the Treasury, if he could see every 
day at 4 p.m. the 3,000 workers pour out of the 300 
rooms of the great building at Fifteenth Street and 
Pennsylvania Avenue, and be told that this is only 

85 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

the central office of the Secretary of the Treasury. 
The salary list of this building alone is about half a 
million dollars annually. 

The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet, and re- 
ceives f 12,000 a year for his services. He has two 
Assistant Secretaries, who each receive $5,000 and a 
Chief Clerk, who has a salary of $2,700. The Chiefs 
of Divisions receive about $2,500 each. 

There are subtreasuries in most of the large cities of 
the Union ; also assay offices in Boise City, Idaho, 
Charlotte, N. C, and St. Louis, Mo., to see that the 
money is kept pure and up to the standard. 

The scales upon which the United States coin is 
weighed are said to be so accurate that if two pieces 
of paper, in all respe(fts the same except that one has 
writing upon it, be laid one on either scale, the differ- 
ence in weight of the one bearing writing upon it will 
show in the scale. 

The cost of maintaining these subdivisions of the 
Treasury is nearly one and a half million dollars 
annually. 

The First Comptroller seems to be the important 
man of the Treasury. Every claim is submitted to 
him. Not even the President's salary can be paid 
unless he signs the warrant and vouchers for its cor- 
re<5lness. His salary is $5,000 per annum, but it takes 
$83,000 to maintain all the appointments of his office. 

The Treasurer of the United States receives $6,000 
per year. He gives a bond for $150,000. He receives 
and disburses all the money of the country and has 
charge of the money vaults. He has an army of 
assistants. 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT 



The Treasurer's report for 1901 says that the" con- 
dition of the Treasury as to the volume and charaAer 
of assets was never better, and, in spite of the unusual 
expense of the army in the Philippines and the raid on 
the Pension Bureau, nearly $78,000,000 surplus re- 
mained in the Treasury. On June 30, 1902, at the 
end of the fiscal year, the surplus was over $92,000,000. 
What a magnificent showing as to the prosperity of 
our country, and what an occasion for national thanks- 
giving ! 

No robbery of the Treasury vaults has ever been 
attempted. When one sees the solid walls of masonry 
and the patrol of soldiers, on duty night or day, with 
every spot bright with ele(ftric light, no such attempt 
seems likely to occur. The entire vaults inside are a 
network of ele(5lric wires. If, for instance, a tunnel 
were made under the building, and a robber should 
reach the vaults, the wires would ring up the Chief of 
Police, who has telephone connexion with Fort Meyer 
and the navy-yard, so that within twenty minutes a 
detachment of troops could be on the ground. 

A few years ago a negro charwoman, in doing her 
cleaning, found a package of bonds of more than a 
million dollars in value. That faithful woman sat by 
the package all night guarding it, knowing that it 
must be of great value. Her faithfulness was recog- 
nized and she was rewarded with a life position. Bowed 
aiuLbroken, she was an historic figure in the building 
until she died. 

In this building all money from the Printing Bureau <» 
and the mints is counted and verified. Here worn 
money, that whicli has l)een l)uried, rotted by water 

87 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

or charred by fire, is identified by the skilled eyes and 
hands of women. Of the charred money received from 
the great fire in Chicago, eighty per cent, was identi- 
fied, and new money issued in its place. Sometimes 
money taken from bodies long drowned or buried has 



It ^^w^' 








1^- -^^y^ ^^^^^B 





MACERATING $10,000,000 OF MONEY 



to be handled. In such cases these women have the 
entire room to themselves, as their usual neighbors 
find that business in other quarters needs immediate 
attention. 

The banks of large cities send in their soiled money 
weekly or monthly and receive fresh notes in ex- 
change, the government paying transportation both 
ways. This soiled money is made into pulp, which is 
sold to paper-makers at about $40 a ton. 

It is only the old money that is counterfeited. 
Counterfeiters rumple and muss their money to give it 

88 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT 



the appearance of being long in use. Women are 
especially skilled in detedling counterfeit money. If 
among the returned coins or notes one single piece 
proves to be counterfeit, the amount is dedudled from 
the salary of the examiner. Yet this great govern- 
ment pays these women less than two-thirds what it 
would pay to men for the same service, if men could 
do it at all. 

From the government of the United States it would 
seem that the world had a right to expecft that ideal 
justice which each soul shall receive when^k-'Stands in 
the presence of Eternal Justice. 

The United States Treasury has charge of the 
Bureau of Printing and Engraving, where all the paper 
money, postage, revenue stamps, and bonds are made. 

Bills, wdien sent from the Bureau of Printing and 
Engraving, require the signatures of officials of the 
bank from which they are to be issued before becom- 
ing legal tender. 

Secretary Shaw has at the Bureau of Printing and 
Engraving his personal representative, who locks up 
the plates, sees to the minutiae of things, so that even 
the smallest scrap of paper bearing governtaent print- 
ing must be shown, or the house is closed and search 
made till it is found. 

The custom officers who insult and browbeat 5^ou 
at the port are of this department. Once on arriving 
at New York, after being very ill all the way from 
Antwerp, I had declared I had nothing dutiable, yet 
in spite of that '^very article in my trunk was laid out 
on the dirty floor of the custom-house. When I saw 
the bottom of the trunk, I said : " Well, you have only 



WASHINCxTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

proved what I told you. I believe 3^011 think because 
I am trembling from weakness that I am frightened ? ' ' 
"Yes, that is about the size of it; there is your trunk, 
you may put the things back." ''No," I said, ''my 
baggage is checked through, and I am not able to pack 
it." I saw with some satisfacSlion the custom-house 
officer do the packing. It had required my best efforts 
to get the stuff into the trunk, but he did it. 

This country has very silly custom-house rules on 
personal clothing and small articles of art and vertu, 
and the average artistic standard of dress and home 
ornamentation of the country is lowered by these 
ridiculous embargoes. 

In 1895 I was abroad with a company of Presbyte- 
rians ; among them w^as Professor G. , of the Presbyte- 
rian Theological Seminary of California. He happened 
to fall in with a little coterie of friends of whom I was 
one. The most of us bought photos and souvenirs in 
almost every city. The professor bought nothing. 
One day he said : " I would so like to have brought 
my wife with me, but I was not able to do so. I shall 
be very saving, so I can take her back a nice present." 
When w^e w^ere in Italy some fool woman suggested a 
cameo pin as a suitable and beautiful present for his 
wife. Cameo pins have been out of fashion for twenty 
years. He purchased one of great beauty for $30. As 
we came into port, a friend said: "Professor, you 
had better let some woman wear that pin for you or 
you will have trouble." "Thank you, no; I expedl 
to pay the required duty to my country." " Oh, you 
do not know your country yet; you'll get a dose ! " 
He paid $27 duty, and had not money enough left to 

90 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT 



get home. I felt that this duty was an outrage. 
Things of beauty which are not for sale should surely 
be admitted free. 

The Treasury is the heart of the whole machine 
that we call the ' ' United States Government. ' ' 



91 



XVI 

SECRET SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 
OF THE UNITED STATES 



EVERY one is interCvSted in what is called the 
1 Secret Service of the government. The 
^^^ name covers many things, altho we usually 
associate it with the government's pro- 
tecftion of the coin and greenback currency of the 
country. 

The detectives of this department are often em- 
ployed in assisting to find out or run down robbers of 
banks, railroad trains, express offices, etc. They are 
also used in detedling frauds at the custom-houses, 
frauds in the departments of justice, pertaining to 
naturalization papers, post-office robberies, and attacks 
on the Mint. In the Pension Bureau the}^ unearth 
fraudulent attempts to represent dead pensioners, etc. 
For work outside of their own departments they are 
paid by their employers. 

In the last report of the Secret Service, dated July i, 
1902, the chief enumerates 253 persons convidled of 
attempt of counterfeiting currency, and 106 yet await- 
ing acflion of the Court. The arrests for the current 
year have numbered 573 ; of these, 413 were born in 
the United States ; of the 106 remaining, Italy fur- 
nished 65 counterfeiters; Germany, 25 ; Ireland, 15 ; 
the others, except 6 Mexicans, are of the different coun- 
tries of Kurope. Of the different States, New York 
92 



SECRET SERVICE DEPARTMENT 

produced 85 counterfeiters (including those who make 
false representations of any kind in pavSsing currency); 
Missouri, 47; Pennsylvania, 45 ; while almost every 
State has one or more. Altered and counterfeit notes 
to the value of $46,004.95 have been captured, and 
counterfeit coins to the value of $19,828.47. 

The Chief of the Secret Service says that the year 
has been fruitful in that class of criminals who alter 
bills of small denomination to one of higher value. 
Any change in a bill renders the maker liable to a fine 
of $5, coo, or fifteen years in prison, or both. 

The walls of the Secret Service office are covered 
with samples of counterfeiters' work. The history 
of each would sound like a dime novel, but the 
government is certain to catch any one who persists in 
demoralizing the currency. Chief John K. Wilkie, a 
first-class Chicago newspaper man, was brought East 
by Secretary Gage. He has called to his assistance, 
as Chief Clerk, Mr. W. H. Moran, who learned his 
business from Mr. Brooks, one of the best detedlives 
any country has yet produced. Other officials tell me 
the office has never been more ably condudled than it 
is at present. 

This bureau is urging that for persistent crime a 
longer penal sentence shall be given. To illustrate 
the persistence of two of these criminals, the following 
extracfts from the Secret Service records are, by cour- 
tesy of the bureau, submitted : 

John Mulvey, a//<is ]A^^Ks Ci.akk, arrested October 16. 1S83, 
at New York. N. Y., for having in possession and pass- 
ing counterfeit coin. Sentenced, October 22, 1883, to 
three years in Auburn, N. Y,, penitentiary and fined $1. 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

William Stevens, alias ]oh^ W. Murray, alias Jack Mul^ 
VEY, was again arrested June 14, 1886, at Baltimore, for 
passing counterfeit 25c. silver coins, and was sentenced, 
September 7. 18S6, to serve one year in Maryland peniten- 
tiary and fined $100. 

Was again arrested under the same name October 5, 
1887, at Philadelphia, Pa., for passing and having in 
possession 25c. coins, and sentenced, December i, 1887, 
to eightee7i tnonths in the Eastern Penitentiary of Penn- 
sylvania and fined. 

John W. Murray, alias William Stevens, alias Jack Mul- 
VEY, was again arrested, July 10, 1889, at Hoboken, 
N. J., for passing counterfeit standard $1, 25c., and loc. 
coins, and sentenced, January 22, 1890, to six months in 
State Prison at Trenton, N. J., and pay costs. 

Jack Mulvey, alias James W., alias John Clark, alias John 
W. Murray, alias " Pants," alias Stevens, etc., was 
again arrested January 12, 1891, at Pittsburg, Pa., for 
having in possession and attempting to pass counter- 
feit 50c. coins, and was sentenced, March 5, 1891, to two 
years in Western Penitentiary at Allegheny, Pa., and 
fined $25. 

John Murray, alias Jacyl Mulvey, was again arrested, Janu- 
ary 25, 1894, at Chicago, 111., for manufacturing counter- 
feit 25c. and IOC coins and having same in possession, 
and was sentenced, March 12, 1894, \.o three years and six 
months at hard labor in the penitentiary at Joliet, 111., 
and to pay a fine of $1. 

James Foley, alias Jack Murray, alias Jack Mulvey, was 
again arrested, February 24, 1897, at Chicago, 111., for 
having in possession and passing counterfeit silver 
dimes, and escaped March 22, 1897, but was rearrested, 
under the name of John O'Keefe, in New York, N. Y., 
April 6, 1897, for passing counterfeit loc. pieces, and 
sentenced, May 12, 1897, to seven years'xn Clinton Prison 
and fined $i. Released from this prison February 27, 
1902. 

94 



SKCRKT SERVICE DEPARTMENT 

Another case from the records of the Secret Service 
would read as follows : 

One day the doors of the Moundsville, W. Va., 
prison opened on a tall, slender, mild-eyed man, upon 
whose face and form time and confinement had left 
their impress, and he passed out to take up again the 
broken thread of his life. 

This was John Ogle's first day of freedom for more 
than three years. On July 4, 1898, he was sentenced 
to four years' imprisonment for trying to increase the 
negotiable value of one-dollar bills by altering their de- 
nominational characfteristics. 

Little more than a year before his brother. Miles, 
was released from the Ohio penitentiary, where he had 
paid the extreme penalty imposed by law for spurious 
money making, only to die two days later of paralysis, 
with which he had been hopelessly stricken over a 3^ear 
before. 

The Ogles, father and sons, during the past fifty 
years have had much to do with the making of the 
criminal history of this country. George Ogle, the 
father, was a river pirate and farmhouse plunderer, 
the Ohio River and its tributaries being the scene of 
his operations. The sons, bred in an atmosphere of 
crime, early embarked in independent unlawful enter- 
prises. Miles displayed pugnacity, intrepidity, and 
skill, while John was shrewd, plausible, and cunning. 

After serving five years for killing an officer who at- 
tempted to arrest the family, and when but twenty-six 
years old. Miles allied himself with the notorious 
"Reno" gang of bandits, and ])ecanie the pupil and 
confederate of Peter McCartney, that past master of 

95 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

the counterfeiter's art. How well he applied himself 
the records of the Secret Service will testify. An even 
dozen skilfully executed spurious note issues were 
diredlly traceable to him, despite the fadl that two- 
thirds of his manhood were spent behind prison walls. 
John Ogle, while not possessed of the dangerous 
skill of his brother, was his equal in hardihood, and, 
in his way, quite as detrimental to society. For cool 
daring, ingenuity, and resourcefulness he was without 
a peer in his chosen profession, and some of his escapes 
from the officers of the law bordered on the miracu- 
lous. He was introduced to prison life in 1864, being 
sentenced in the fall of that year to five years in the 
Jeffersonville, Ind. , penitentiary for burglary. Shortly 
after his release he was traced to Cairo, 111., with 
twenty-eight hundred dollars of counterfeit money in- . 
tended for one of Miles' customers, and, after a desper- 
ate fight, was placed in jail. He managed in some way 
to effedl his escape, but was soon recaptured at Pitts- 
burg. This time he told the officers that he knew of 
a big ' ' plant ' ' of spurious bills and tools near Oyster 
Point, Md. , which he was willing to turn up if it would 
benefit him. Being assured of leniency, he started 
with a marshal for the hiding-place. En route he 
managed to elude the watchfulness of his guard, and 
jumped from the car- window while the train was at 
full speed. At Bolivar, Tenn., Ogle was arrested, 
January 8, 1872, with five hundred dollars of counter- 
feit money in his pocket. A sentence of ten years was 
imposed ; but John had a reputation to sustain, so he 
broke from the jail where he was temporarily confined 
awaiting transportation to the penitentiary. Several 

96 



SECRET SERVICE DEPARTMENT 

months later he was arrested and indicated at Cincinnati 
for passing bad five-dollar bills. Pending trial, he was 
released on five thousand dollars bail, which he 
promptly forfeited, and was again a fugitive. 

February i8, 1873, one Tom Hayes was detected 
passing counterfeit money at Cairo, 111., but it was 
not discovered that ' ' Tom Hayes ' ' was none other 
than the much-wanted John Ogle until after he had 
made good his escape. So chagrined were the officers 
over this second break that all the resources of the 
department were employed to efFecfi his capture, and 
but a week had passed before he was found in Pitts- 
burg and taken to Springfield, 111., for trial. This 
time there was no escape, and he vServed five years in 
Joliet. As he stepped from the prison door Marshal 
Thrall, of Cincinnati, confronted him with an order 
for his removal to answer the indi(5lment of May, 1872. 
The Cincinnati jail was undergoing repairs. A painter 
had left his overalls and hickory shirt in the corridor 
near the cage where Ogle was placed. Adroitly pick- 
ing the lock of his cell with his penknife, he donned 
the painter's clothes, took up a paint-bucket, and 
coolly walked down-stairs, past the gate (which the 
guard obligingly opened for him), through the jailer's 
office, and into the street. Proceeding leisurely until 
out of sight of the prison, the daring criminal made 
his way to the river, which he crossed at Eawrence- 
i)urg, and, discarding his borrowed apparel, struck 
across tlie country, finally bringing up at Branden- 
burg, Ky., where he obtained employment as a stone- 
cutter. Respecflability was, however, inconsistent 
with Ogle's early training ; so about a week after his 

97 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

arrival he broke into a shoe-house of the town, stole 
$200 worth of goods, and was arrested three da3^s later 
while trying to dispose of his plunder in lyouisville. 
Fearing a term in the Frankfort prison for some 
reason, he informed the Kentucky officers that a large 
reward was offered for his return to Cincinnati. This 
had the desired effedl, and he was sent to the Ohio 
penitentiary to serve five years. 

Returning to Cincinnati at the expiration of this 
enforced confinement, he met his brother, who had 
just been released from an eight-year ** trick " in the 
Western Pennsylvania penitentiary, and, altho no real 
affe(5tion existed in the breast of either for the other, 
John needed money, and Miles had money and required 
assistance in a contemplated enterprise. An under- 
standing was soon reached, and these two dangerous 
lawbreakers joined forces in another scheme to debase 
their country's currency. Using the same conveyance 
employed by their father in his plundering expedition 
(a house-boat), they started from Cincinnati and 
drifted down the Ohio River, John steering and keep- 
ing watch while Miles plied the graver. When the 
plates for a twenty-dollar silver note and a ten-dollar 
issue of the Third National Bank of Cincinnati were 
complete, Miles took the helm and John went below 
to do the printing. $150,000 of the "coney" had 
been run off by the time they reached the mouth of 
the Wolf River, and here the trip ended. Disposing 
of the boat, the brothers started back to Cincinnati. 
En route they quarreled over the division of the notes, 
and separated with the understanding that John was 
to receive $500 of the proceeds of the first sales. 
98 



SECRET SERVICE DEPARTMENT 

Miles did not keep faith, and John subsequently 
assisted the government officers in locating and secur- 
ing his brother, who was arrested in Memphis, Teim., 
on Christmas day, 1884, with $6,000 of the counter- 
feits in his pockets. 

For a number of years thereafter John steered clear 
of offenses penalized by the federal statutes, and suc- 
cessfully feigned insanity when he could not escape 
punishment for crimes against the State by any other 
means. 

This is what happened to one town marshal who 
caught Ogle in the adl of buglarizing a store and 
failed to appreciate the characfter of his prisoner. It 
was between two and three o'clock in the morning 
when the capture was made, and as the lockup was 
located about a mile from the scene of the crime, the 
officer decided to keep the rogue in his room until 
morning. Carefully locking the room door and hand- 
cuffing John, he lit his pipe and made himself as com- 
fortable as possible — so comfortable, in fa(5l, that he 
was soon fast asleep. When he awoke his bird had 
flown, and the officer's watch and purse were missing. 



99 



XVII 

POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT 



"WT^ VERY man and woman in the republic has a 
•^^ I personal interest in this department of the 
^^ government. You pay two cents for a 
stamp, throw a missive into a box, and 
start the machinery which requires 100,000 persons 
to run it. If your letter is for the Philippines, you 
use the railroad and the ocean steamer, with many re- 
lays of men and engines to perform your bidding. If 
your letter is for Alaska, you use the railroad, the 
steamship, and the reindeer team to deliver it. Not 
an hour, day or night, the entire year through, but 
men are toiling to hurry your mail to its destination 
If your letter is for one of the large cities, skilful men 
board the train, and as it approaches its destination 
distribute the mail for each districft, so that your letter 
will not lie for hours in the central office. If your 
letter is to a busy farmer who may be in the midst of 
his harvest and has no time to go for his mail, one of 
the government's faithful servants takes that letter to 
him. Yet we are much more likely, withal, to growl 
at Uncle Sam than to remember the faithful .service we 
receive for so little money. 

The Post-office Department is one which is not 5'et 
self-supporting. The last annual report of the Postmas- 
ter-General shows that the receipts from ordinary postal 
revenue amounted to $191,478,663.41. Figures are 
1/X) 



POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT 



not at hand for a fnrther revenue to the department 
from mone^'-order business, inchiding post-office orders 
which were uncalled for. The government expended 
$16,910,278.99 more than it received. This deficit is 
occasioned b}' the second-class matter, which includes 
newspapers and magazines paying less than cost of 
transportation. It is also due pc!<-tly to the glaring 
abuse of the franking privilege by members of the 
Senate and House. If a description of what some 
of these men commit to Uncle Sam to carry for them 
free of charge were published they would hide their 
heads in shame. While this abuse continues we are 
not likely to get a one-cent rate on letters, a rate 
which would greatly benefit the entire countr^^ Poor 
people are paying the postage for these Congressmen. 

The United vStatcs Post-office Department and the 
post-office for the City of Washington are in a build- 
ing on Pennsylvania Avenue, which extends over an 
entire square from Twelfth to Thirteenth Streets, 
N. W. 

The Postmaster- General is a member of the Presi- 
dent's Cabinet. He receives $12,000 per annum for 
giving to his country services which a railroad or 
great newspaper would consider cheap at $25,000 per 
annum. There are four Assistant Postmaster-Gen- 
erals wiio receive each about half as much as their 
chief. These are appointed by the President and con- 
firmed by the vSenate. 

The Postmaster- General makes postal treaties with 
foreign governmeiils, by and with the advice of the 
President, awards contradfs, and directs the manage- 
ment of the domestic and foreign mails. 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

The First Assistant Postmaster- General has charge 
of the salary and allowance division, free delivery sys- 
tem, post-office supplies, money-order division, dead- 
letter office, and the general correspondence. 

The Second Assistant Postmaster- General has charge 
of the contracft division, division of inspe<5lion, railway 
adjustment (which includes weighing and deciding on 
what pay shall be given railroads), the mail equip- 
ment division, and foreign mails. 

The Third Assistant Postmaster- General has charge 
of postage stamps and postmasters' accounts, registry 
office, and the special delivery system. 

The Fourth Assistant Postmaster- General has the 
appointment of many postmasters and of post-office 
inspectors, and has charge of the bonds and commis- 
sions for postmasters. This last place was formerly filled 
by Mr. J. L. Bristow, of Kansas. During the first year 
of Mr. Roosevelt's Presidency Mr. Bristow officially 
decapitated as many as fifty postmasters a day, and it 
is claimed it was a slow 3^ear in the business. Of course, 
for every one who lost his place some other fellow was 
made happy. Mr. P. V. De Graw now has the office. 

No impure books, pamphlets, or papers are allowed 
transportation by the United States mail. Men in this 
employ have a right to insist that their work shall not 
include indecent matter. As far as possible the gov- 
ernment tries to prevent advertisers of dishonest busi- 
nesses from using the mails for fraudulent gain. It 
is to be hoped that the time may soon come when all 
financial schemers who now defraud the wage-earning 
class by circulars on mining, oil, or industrial stock, 
or other doubtful enterprises, shall be obliged to prove 

102 



POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT 



to the government officials that the scheme represented 
is just what the circular sets forth. All Building 
Associations and Insurance Companies should pass 
under the same law. Good people would be glad of 
this inspe(5lion, and bad people make it necessary. 

The Postmaster- General recommends that the gov- 
ernment have inspecftors appointed who shall see that 
neither telegraph nor express companies be permitted 
to carry matter for lotteries or any known fraudulent 
enterprise. The McKinley and Roosevelt administra- 
tions will be noted for the improvement and extension 
of the rural delivery system. 

The dead-letter office is one of great interest, and is 
found in the general post-office building. Of un- 
claimed letters there were last year nearly six million ; 
of misdirecfled letters, 454,000 ; and of letters without 
any address, 39,837. Any letter which is unclaimed 
at a post-office after a few wrecks is vSent to the dead- 
letter office. Here it is opened, and if it contains the 
name and address of the writer, the letter is returned ; 
but letters signed **Your loving Amy," ''Your de- 
voted mother," "Your repentant son," fail to reach 
the eyes and hearts of those who wait for them in 
vain. Last year 526,345 unclaimed letters written in 
foreign countries, probably to loved ones in the United 
States, were sent to the dead-letter office. Think of 
the heartaches which that means! Think of the loves 
and friendships wrecked thereby! 

Letters whose envelopes display the business card of 
the writer are returned to the sender by the local post- 
master after a certain period. Papers, magazines, and 
books with insufficient postage are sent to the dead- 

103 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

letter office, held for a short time, and then distributed 
to hospitals, asylums, and penal institutions. 

Wherever "Old Glory" floats, there the servants 
of Uncle Sam carry his mail. Of this department 
every citizen should be proud, for its speed and effi- 
ciency is equaled by no other mail .service in the 
world. 



104 



XVIII 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



/k BOUT fifty years ago, at the request of Hon, 

£^y^ H. L. Ellsworth, the sum of one thousand 

I^^^J dollars was set apart in the interest of 

agriculture ; now there is a Department of 

Agriculture, and its Secretary is a member of the 

President's Cabinet. 

The present Secretary of this department is Hon. 
James Wilson, of Iowa. He served several terms in 
Congress, was Regent of the State University of Iowa, 
and for six years prior to his present appointment was 
Diredlor of the Iowa Experimental Station and pro- 
fessor of agriculture at the Iowa Agricultural College, 
Ames, Iowa. 

The Department of Agriculture consists of twenty 
different divisions, each one of wdiich is worthy of a 
complete chapter. The department has many build- 
ings, but the main one vStands within the grounds of 
the Smithsonian Institution, in a bower of blooming 
plants and clinging vines. Every kind of plant from 
the tropics to the Arcftic Circle which can be made to 
grow in this climate can be found in this department. 

Studies in ornamentation, best methods of grafting, 
pruning, budding, hybridizing, and treating diseases 
of plants, trees, and animals are thoroughly investi- 
gated at its experimental stations. 

Vegetable and flower seeds, grass seeds, plants, trees, 

105 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

bulbs, and grape-vines are distributed in the depart- 
ment through the Senators, members, and delegates 
of Congress. By this means the best varieties of the 
vegetable kingdom are carried throughout the United 
States. During the coming year the country will be 
more carefully distri(5led, and only such seeds and 
plants as have been thoroughly acclimated will be sent 
to the several distridls. 

Members of Congress from cities exchange their 
quota of vegetable and crop seeds for flower seeds, thus 
leaving more of the former for members with a farm- 
ing constituency. 

The following statement shows the amounts of seeds, 
bulbs, plants, and trees, so far as the allotments have 
been made, for a recent fiscal year : 

Each Senator, member, and delegate will receive — 

Vegetable Seed 12, ooo packages, 5 papers each. 

Novelties Vegetable Seed . 500 packages, 5 papers each. 

Flower Seed 500 packages, 5 papers each. 

Tobacco Seed no packages, 5 papers each, to 

districts growing tobacco. 

Cotton Seed .70 packages, i peck each, to dis- 
tricts growing cotton. 

Lawn Grass Seed .... 30 packages. 

Forage Crop Seed .... Allotment not yet made. 

Sorghu7n Seed Allotment not yet made. 

Sugar Beet Seed .... Allotment not yet made. 

Bulbs 10 boxes, 35 bulbs each ; or 20 

boxes, 17 bulbs each. 

Grape-vines 8 packages, 5 vines each. 

Strawberry Plants . . . 10 packages, 15 plants each. 

Trees 20 packages, 5 trees each. 

For seed distributed alone the government appropri- 
ates $270,000. Think of the beneficence of that ! 

106 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

The rarest and best seeds that money can buy will be 
planted in every State and Territory of this country. 
Experts are continually sent abroad to find new cereals, 
fruits trees, animals, and flowers. 

The department has at least one correspondent in 
every county of the United States through whom the 
statistics on acreage, quality of crops, and success of 
experiments are reported at stated times. 

All questions pertaining to farming are answered by 
this department. If a man desires to buy a farm in 
Kansas or Alaska, a portion of the country of which 
he knows little, the department will tell him of the 
climate, the crops likely to be remunerative, and the 
obstacles of soil or climate to overcome. A chemist 
will analyze the soil for him, tell him what it contains, 
and what it needs to produce certain crops. An 
entomologist will tell him the insecfts prevalent which 
may destroy his crops. The scientist will also tell him 
how to destroy the inse(5ls, what birds to encourage 
and what to banish. 

At Summerville, S. C, the government has a tea 
farm with a fully equipped fa<5lory, and the tea pro- 
duced is claimed by experts to equal the best imported 
article. This year one thousand acres of rice land 
near Charleston, S. C, will be put in tea. The cost 
of producing American tea is about fifteen cents a 
pound ; the yield is four hundred pounds to the acre, 
the wholesale selling price forty to fifty cents per 
pound, and the retail price seventy-five cents to one 
dollar per pound. 

In the wheat-growing States the government is try- 
ing a fine variety of macaroni wheat, in order to com- 

107 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

pete successfully with the imported article, of which 
$8,000,000 worth enters this country annually. 

In the cotton States the government is trying Kg3^p- 
tian cotton, which is now imported to the value of 
$8,000,000 annually. 

In Arizona and other dry trails dates and other 
Egyptian fruits are being successfully acclimated. In 
the hot states rubber, coffee, bananas, and cocoa are 
being tried. 

Our fruit markets are being extended into Europe, 
and special agents and consuls are using every influ- 
ence to enlarge this market. At the Paris Exposition 
our pears, apples, peaches, and plums were a never- 
ending surprise to people of all lands. Californians 
made us all proud of them by their lavish generosity, 
and the result has been that pears and apples have 
been sent in large quantities to Southern Europe, also 
to Russia and Siberia. 

New cottons are being sent throughout the South, 
new prunes and plums along the Pacific Coast. Im- 
portant experiments are being made in sugar pro- 
ducing. Pineapples are being acclimated in Florida, 
plants which produce bay rum and various perfumes 
are. being introduced in several states, and olives from 
Italy are being tried in Porto Rico and the Philippines. 

In many different States soils have been examined. 
In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, it was found cer- 
tain soils contain ingredients to produce the finest Cuban 
tobacco, and other soil regarded as useless was shown 
to be capableof producing certain rare plants. Every 
state should call for this kind of analytic help, until 
we make the United States the garden of the world. 

108 



XIX 



DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY ON PURE FOODS 

DIETETICS 



^T^ HIS vSiibjedl of the relative value of foods is one 

*• , that interests every individual. The Depart- 
^^ nient of Agriculture is making a brave effort 
to secure a law regulating interstate and in- 
ternational commerce, requiring that all foods sent 
from one state to another, or to foreign countries, shall 
be labeled for just what they are, and shall conform to 
the government standard in excellence. 

For instance, renovated or "process " butter is now 
passing its ordeal. ''Process" butter means that a 
large quantity of butter has been sent to a factory or 
elsewhere, and there worked together and colored to 
secure uniformity of appearance, and then placed on 
the market. The government requires that it shall be 
properly labeled. It is of less nutritive value than either 
oleomargarine or butterine. A government leaflet 
gives householders and merchants full diredlions for 
discovering the real value of anything called butter. 
Every farmer should secure a copy of the Agricultural 
Year-book. 

I remember once, a number of years ago, at a tal)le 
in London, discussing with some merchants from South 
America the subje6l of buying their goods in the 
United States instead of England. 

One man from I'ritish Guiana said : " It is impossi- 

109 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

ble to deal with the United States ; they have no food- 
test laws, and we buy one thing and get another. 
Then take machinery and implements. The first three 
or four purchases will be all right, after which they put 
off on us shelf- worn goods which they could not sell 
at home." 

When the government can put an official stamp on 
each article exported it will be good for the permanence 
of our export trade. 

No such general law now exists, and the best our 
government can do is to certify that the goods comply 
with the standard of the country to which they are to 
be sent. It is believed that many of the preservatives 
used with food produ(5ls are harmless to the human 
body, and a scientific test of this was condudled 
in December, 1902. The Agricultural Department 
called upon the young scientists of the colleges and 
universities to assist in settling this question. A 
picked body of students were supplied with the purest 
food to bring them to perfecft condition, and soups, 
meats, vegetables, jellies, etc., containing preserva- 
tives claimed to be harmless will be given them, and 
as soon as a touch of dyspepsia is manifest the test 
will be dropped. It was doubtful whether football 
and baseball managers, not to mention such insignifi- 
cant facftors as profcvssors and mothers, would consent 
that their favorites should be submitted to such experi- 
ments. But scientists are earnest seekers for truth, 
and enough subjecfts were readily found to make the 
trial. 

It is not so much the making of impure foods that 
is objedled to as it is an effort to provide that goods 

110 



DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY 

shall be labeled for what they are — that is, a can 
labeled raspberry jam shall not consist of gelatine with 
a few raspberry seeds and juice used for coloring, but 
shall be the real thing. 

In recent testimony before Congress a case of this 
kind was brought out. A certain firm made jelly from 
the refuse of apples — that is, rotten and wilted apples, 
peelings and cores, stuff which when made cost the 
firm one and a half cents a pound — and this they sold 
as apple and currant jelly, selling hundreds of buckets. 
The government forced the firm to label the buckets 
corredlly, and the sale became insignificant. Now, the 
poor need cheap foods, but it is not fair that they 
should have to pay more than a thing is worth; besides, 
such frauds interfere with the industry of the farmer's 
wife who sells pure jelly. 

The government now sends agents into every city, 
who buy from the shelves of grocers just what they 
offer for sale. The grocer, of course, does not recog- 
nize the government agent. The stuff is then sent to 
the laboratory, and the grocer and manufa(5lurer noti- 
fied as to results. The latter is told that his formula 
will be published, and before that is done he will be 
permitted to offer any statement that he may think 
advisable. 

We are apt to think the ' ' embalmed ' ' meat agita- 
tion during the Spanish war will injure the trade of 
the country more than the war itself, but that agita- 
tion was right if it saved the health of even one soldier, 
and, above all, if it secures society in the future 
against deleterious canned meats. 

It is well known, tlio not approved by the govern- 
Ill 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

ment, that there are several canneries in the West 
where horse-flesh only is used. The government 
watches them closely and forces them to label the goods 
for just what they are. These goods are sent to such 
foreign countries as do not objedl to the use of horse- 
flesh. 

Most States have stringent food laws, but so much 
food is sent from the State in which it is produced to 
another that State laws become inoperative. 

The government finds glucose (not in itself harm- 
ful) to be the basis of many frauds. Colored and fla- 
vored it is sold as honey, and it is the foundation of 
Very many jams. Cocoas and chocolates are made 
from wheat, corn, rice, potatoes ; pepper, cinnamon, 
allspice, nutmegs, and mustards are made from almost 
every cereal. Pure vinegar is rare. Almost any kind 
of wine can be drawn from the same spigot, colored 
and flavored to suit the requirements of the wine 
desired. 

Sometimes in foreign lands I have thought that 
London particularly needs a commission on pure 
coffee. I think I shall know the taste of chicory as 
long as I live from experiences in that city. 

Most foreign countries make stringent food laws 
chiefly on liquors and butter. Germany draws close 
lines on meat, including all forms of sausage, with 
some restri(5tions on butter, wine, coloring on toys, 
and coloring matter generally. 

Every European country has stringent laws on the 
composition of beer. I wonder how long American 
beer which rots the shoes of the bartender, and brings 
paralysis to his right hand, would be tolerated in Ger- 

112 



DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY 

many or Britain ? At the Buffalo Exposition, in the 
government display., was one sample of ' ' peach 
brandy," the formula of which was forty gallons of 
proof spirits, one-half pound of an essence, one quart 
of sugar syrup, and a sufficient amount of coloring 
matter. The ' ' bead oil ' ' on the same shelf, it was 
claimed, was a solution of soap intended to produce a 
"bead" on liquors, and thereby give the appearance 
of age. 

Could anything better prove the need of a govern- 
ment standard than the above, or the further fadls 
that one man is now in the penitentiary for fraudulent 
use of the United States mail in advertising ground 
soapstone as a flour adulterant, and that fifteen cheaper 
oils are now used to adulterate pure olive oil ? 

If I were a young college woman I would go in for 
chemistry, and make myself a food specialist for gro- 
cers, exporters, and importers. I would make my 
home in some large institution where the food ques- 
tion as to what nutriments the body needs, and what 
will produce best results at the least cost, could be 
tested scientifically. I would take the cook and her 
helpers into a loving partnership to improve the die- 
tetics of the establishment, and yet reduce expenses. 
There is a new business now ready for earnest college 
women. 



118 



XX 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



^T^ HK Department of the Interior was created by 

^ I adl of Congress in 1849. When the names 
^^« of its subdivisions are enumerated, it will 
readily be seen that no adequate description 
of it can be given in one or two chapters. 

It comprises the Patent Office, the Pension Office, 
General Land Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau 
of Education, Commissioner of Railroads, and the 
Office of the Geological Survey. Each office is man- 
aged by a commissioner or director, who has under 
him a large force of officials and clerks. 

In the chief building of the Department of the Inte- 
rior, fronting on F Street, and extending from Seventh 
to Ninth, and from F to G Streets, may be found the 
Patent Office of the United States. No other depart- 
ment so well reveals the inventive genius of the most 
inventive people on earth. 

Once at a table in Paris a Frenchman said to me : 
* * The Americans are inventors because they are laz3^ ' ' 

"Well," I said, "I have heard many surprising 
charges against my countrymen, but that excels all. 
How do you make that out ? ' ' 

"Well, I am a manufa(5lurer. I set an American 
boy to keep a door open ; before half an hour he has 
invented a machine which will open and shut it, and I 
find my boy playing marbles. ' ' 
114 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

"Sensible boy ! Yes, with that view of it, maybe 
we are ; we certainly do not care to do by hand that 
which a machine can better perform." 

The Patent Office is one of the few departments 
which is more than self-supporting. In the year 1836 
but one patent was taken out ; during the year end- 
ing December 31, 1901, the total number of appli- 
cations was 46,449. The total receipts for the year 
were $6,626,856.71 ; total expenditures, $1,297,385.64 
— leaving a balance far over five million dollars in 
favor of the government. 

There are divisions for different classes of inven- 
tions. When a patent is applied for, examiners make 
all necessary investigations, and carefully look into 
the invention claimed to be new, comparing it, part by 
part, with patents already existing before determining 
whether a patent can be granted. They have a library 
with plates and descriptions of about everything under 
the sun. From this library inventors can have books 
and plates .sent them in order to compare their work 
with inventions now existing. 

The Secretary of the Interior is a member of the 
President's Cabinet, and receives $12,000 per year. He 
has charge of the Capitol (through the architecft), the 
Insane Asylum, and the College for Mutes — indeed, it 
would seem that his work is sufficient for ten Secre- 
taries. 

There is an Assistant Secretary of the Interior, 
who receives $4,000 per annum, and conuni.s.sioners 
of different divisions and ])ureaus who receive from 
$3,000 to $6,000 annually. 

Many officers of this department could command 

116 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

higher salaries in the commercial world, but these 
positions secure honor and respedl not only for the 
man himself but also for his descendants, hence these 
commissionerships are very desirable. For that reason 
men give up a legal pradlise or a railroad position, 
bringing salaries eight or ten times as large. 

The present Secretary, Ethan Allen Hitchcock,* of 
Missouri, great-grandson of Ethan Allen, of Vermont, 
has a wide experience in manufa(5luring, railroad, and 
mining interests, and has served as Ambassador to 
Russia. He was called to his present place in 1898. 

The Secretary in his report for 1901 entreats that at 
least twenty more persons of fine mechanical ability be 
appointed as examiners, as his force is much behind 
in their work, altho many labor far over allotted time. 

The Bureau of Education, established in 1867, is 
probably as little known to the general public as any 
branch of the government. It is a clearing-house. 

The Commissioner of Education, Hon. William T. 
Harris, t is one of the great educators of the world. It 
is probable if the teachers of the United States could 
have a personal vote, their unanimous choice would 
fall upon Dr. Harris as their Commissioner. The 
offices of the Bureau of Education are in a brick build- 
ing at the corner of G and Eighth Streets. 

The Commissioner has about forty assistants, who 
are confined to about twenty-eight rooms. This office 
collecfts, tabulates, and reports on all schools in the 
United States. Any one who desires to compare the cur- 

* Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior under Presidents 
McKinley and Roosevelt, died April 9, 1909, age seventy-four. 

t In July, 1906, Commissioner Harris retired on a Carnegie pension and 
Prof. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, of California, became Commissioner of 
Education. 

116 



DEPARTMEINT OF THE INTERIOR 

riculums of different institutions consults the Commis- 
sioner's report. Or should one desire to know what is 
being done in Europe, or any other part of the world, 
along the line of art in schools, or manual or indus- 
trial training, or the advanced education for women, 
all such inquiries can be answered by reference to the 
Commissioner's report. 

This bureau is held in high estimation in Europe. 
Man}" of the South American republics and some 
Asiatic countries are trying, through the reports of 
Dr. Harris, to model their school systems after that of 
the United States. 

Miss Frances G. French has charge of the foreign 
correspondence, and tabulates statistics and reports on 
thirty-two foreign countries. 

The school work presented by the Department of 
Education at Paris in 1900 secured favorable commen- 
dation from the best educators of Europe. Only three 
commissioners have preceded Dr. Harris: Hon. Henry 
Barnard, 1867-1870; Hon. John Eaton, 1870-1886 ; 
Hon. N. H. R. Dawson, 1 886-1889. I'he latter was 
a brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Harris 
was appointed by President Harrison, September, 1889. 
The best work of the Bureau of Education lies in 
bringing about homogeneity in the work of education 
throughout the United States. Without the tabulated 
work of the Superintendents of States, how would the 
Superintendent of, say, one of the Dakotas, know 
whether the work of the public schools of his State 
corresponds with the work done in New York or Penn- 
sylvania ? Yet the boy educated in Dakota may have 
to do his life-work in Pennsylvania. Then the Com- 

117 



WASHINGTON: ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

missioner's report keeps us informed what the, State, 
Nation, or Church is doing for the education of the 
colored race, the Indian, or the people of our new 
possessions. 

A short extracft from the Commissioner's report of 
1899 will give an idea of the tabulated work for 
women : 

The barriers to woman's higher education seem effectu- 
ally removed, and to-day eight-tenths of the colleges, uni- 
versities, and professional schools of the United States are 
open to women students. As is stated by ex-Presfdent Alice 
Freeman Palmer, of Wellesley College, "30,000 girls have 
graduated from colleges, while 40,000 more are preparing to 
graduate." The obtaining of a collegiate education gives the 
women more ambition to enter a profession, or, if they decide 
to marry, it is stated that — 

The advanced education they have received has added to their natural 
endovpments wisdom, strength, patience, balance, and self-control . . . 
and in addition to a wise discharge of their domestic duties, their homes 
have become centers of scientific or literary study or of philanthropy 
in the communities where they live. 

It is Stated that the advancement of women in professional 
life is less rapid than in literature. The training of women 
for medical practise was long opposed by medical schools and 
men physicians. Equally tedious was the effort to obtain 
legal instruction and admission to the legal profession, and 
even to-day the admission to theological schools and the 
ministry is seriously contested ; yet all these professions are 
gradually being opened to women. In 1896-97 there were in 
the United States 1,583 women pursuing medical studies to 
1,471 in 1895-96; in dentistry, 150 women in 1896-97 to 143 in 
1895-96 ; in pharmacy, 131 in 1896-97 to 140 in 1895-96. In 
law courses of professional schools were 131 women in 1896- 
97 to 77 in 1S95-96 : in theological courses 193 women in 
1896-97. 

The only aggressive work done b}^ this bureau is in 
118 



DEPARTMENT OE THE INTERIOR 

Alaska, and of this Dr. Sheldon Jackson* is agent or 
superintendent. Besides doing a great work in educa- 
tion, this department has brought about 1,300 deer 
from Siberia to take the place of dogs, mules, and 
horses in transportation, and at the same time to give 
milk, butter, cheese, and meat to the population. The 
reindeer are self-supporting, living on the moss which 
grows abundantly. 

These animals are loaned to individuals or missions, 
and at the end of five years the government requires 
an equivalent number to be returned. The Eskimo, 
the Lapp, and the Finn become expert in handling 
these herds, now numbering many thousands. By 
them mails are carried, and whalers, sealers, miners, 
and soldiers rescued from starvation, danger, or death. 

The education as well as religious training of Alaska 
is up to this time conducfled through the mission 
stations, all of which are visited, encouraged, and as- 
sisted by Dr. Jackson. 

The Youth' s Companion tersely states the present 
condition of things : 

When the churches first planned to send missionaries and 
teachers into Alaska, representatives of the several denomina- 
tions met and divided the territory among them. Should the 
traveler ask the ordinary Alaskan miner what is the result of 
effort, he would probably be answered that there has been no 
result. The miner, in the words of Dr. Sheldon Jackson, is 
unconscious that the very fact of his presence there at all is 
the direct outcome of Christian missions. In 1877 Sitka and 
St. Michaels were armed trading-posts, out of which the 
soldiers shut the natives every night, that the inhabitants 
might rest in safety. For ten years not a single whaler dared 
to stay overnight at Cape Prince of Wales, so savage was the 

* Or. Sheldon Jackson died May 2, 1909. 

119 



X 



WASHINGTON : iTS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 



native population. Now, in all those ports, the miner and 
whaler and traveler can dwell in safety, because of the civiliz- 
ing work of the missionaries. Probably ten thousand natives 
have been brought under Christian influences, and many pub- 
lic as well as mission schools have been opened. 

Among the Moravian missions of the Yukon Valley few of 
the natives can read or write. At bedtime a bell rings, and 
the entire population goes to the churches. A chapter in the 
Bible is read, a prayer offered, a hymn sung ; and the men, 
women, and children return to their homes and go to bed. 
Where in the United States can be found a better record ? 

In introducing religion with the arts, sciences, and 
conveniences of civihzation, Dr. Jackson's work re- 
minds one of the words of Whittier : 

I hear the mattock in the mine, 

The ax stroke in the dell. 
The clamor of the Indian lodge, 

And now the chapel bell. 

I hear the tread of pioneers, 

Of nations yet to be, 
The first low wash of waves where soon 

Shall roll a human sea. 



120 



XXI 

BRANCHES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE 
INTERIOR 



^T^ HE Gallaudet College for the Deaf is situated 
^ in Northeast Washington, at Kendall 

^l^M Green. It is surrounded by about one hun- 
dred acres of ground. Until within a year 
it has been known as the Columbian Institution for 
the Deaf and Dumb, but the Board of Dire(5lors, at the 
request of the akimni, wisely changed it to Gallaudet 
College, in honor and memory of Thomas Hopkins 
Gallaudet, founder of deaf-mute education in America. 
The honor is also deserved by the Hon. Edward M. 
Gallaudet, LL.D., its president at the time. He is 
probably the greatest teacher of mutes now living. 
He is certainly the most distinguished one. It is the 
only real college for this unfortunate class in the 
world. All the other schools for mutes in this country 
only prepare them to enter this institution. The col- 
lege embraces, in a four years' course, languages, 
mathematics, natural science, history, philosophy, and 
political science — about the usual classical course in 
any college. 

They are instrudled by what is known as the com- 
bined method — that is, both the oral and sign methods 
are used. 

Mutes among themselves greatly ]:)rerer signs. All 
mutes can not learn the oral method, and I know by 

121 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

experience among mutes that the talking which they 
learn is not very satisfa6lory. Their voices are too 
loud or too low ; in some of them the sound of the 
voice is most distressing, not having the ear by which 
to regulate it. 

I met one woman in Washington stone-deaf who 
could talk as well as any one, and I had met her three 
times before I knew she was deficient in any sense. 
Then she took me by the shoulders and turned me 
toward the window, saying : ' * I do believe you are 
talking. You know I can not hear thunder, so I must 
see your lips. ' ' 

The dire(5lor for the school of mutes in Japan made a 
lengthy visit to Washington to study the methods of 
the college instrudlion, and several countries of Europe 
have sent delegates to examine its workings. Dr. 
Gallaudet has visited every great school for mutes in 
Europe — not once, but several times — so that he 
brings to his great work not only his own skill, knowl- 
edge, and experience, but also the results of his obser- 
vations in many lands. 

Congress appropriates about $50,000 per year for 
the support of this college. Here the mutes from the 
Distridl of Columbia and of the Army and Navy, besides 
sixty indigent students from different parts of the 
country, without charge for board, receive a college 
training. Beside these there are many who pay full 
tuition. The annual attendance is between one and 
two hundred. About six hundred young men and 
and w^omen have been graduated, showing that deaf- 
ness does not interfere with the highest mental cul- 
ture. 
122 



BRANCHEvS OF INTERIOR DEPARTMENT 

The following extradl from the report of 1893 will 
give an idea of the beneficent work of this government 
institution. The report says : 

Fifty-seven who have gone out from the college have been 
engaged in teaching ; four have entered the Christian min- 
istry ; three have become editors and publishers of news- 
papers ; three others have taken positions connected with 
journalism ; fifteen have entered the civil service of the 
government — one of these, who had risen rapidly to a 
high and responsible position, resigned to enter upon the 
practise of law in patent cases in Cincinnati and Chicago, and 
has been admitted to practise in the Supreme Court of the 
United States ; one is the official botanist of a State, who has 
correspondents in several countries of Europe who have 
repeatedly purchased his collections, and he has written 
papers upon seed tests and related subjects which have been 
published and circulated by the Agricultural Department; one, 
while filling a position as instructor in a Western institution, 
has rendered important service to the Coast Survey as a mi- 
croscopist, and one is engaged as an engraver in the chief 
office of the Survey. Of three who became draftsmen in 
architects' offices, one is in successful practise as an architect 
on his own account, which is also true of another, who com- 
pleted his preparation by a course of study in Europe ; one 
has been repeatedly elected recorder of deeds in a Southern 
city, and two others are recorders' clerks in the West ; one 
was elected and still sits as a city councilman ; another has 
been elected city treasurer and is at present cashier of a 
national bank ; one has become eminent as a practical chemist 
and assayer; two are members of the faculty of the college, 
and two others are rendering valuable service as instructors 
therein ; some have gone into mercantile and other offices ; 
some have undertaken business on their own account, while 
not a few have chosen agricultural and mechanical pursuits, 
in which the advantages of thorough mental training will give 
them a superiority over those not so well educated. Of those 
alluded to as having engaged in teaching, one has been the 

123 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

principal of a flourishing institution in Pennsylvania ; one is 
now in his second year as principal of the Ohio institution ; 
one has been at the head of a day-school in Cincinnati, and 
'later of the Colorado institution; a third has had charge of 
the Oregon institution; a fourth is at the head of a day-school 
in St. Louis; three others have respectively founded and are 
now at the head of schools in New Mexico, North Dakota, 
and Evansville, Ind., and others have done pioneer work in 
establishing schools in Florida and in Utah. 

In Dr. Gallaudet's travels he was met in every 
country by the educated mutes, and by his sign lan- 
guage could converse with them, showing that the 
world has at least one universal language. Every 
honor that grateful hearts could shower upon a de- 
voted friend and philanthropist was shown the do(5lor 
in his travels in Europe. He deserves them all. 

The Smithsonian Institution is situated on a fifty- 
two acre reservation between the Capitol and the 
Potomac River. The main building is near the center 
of the grounds opposite Tenth Street, West. It is 
built of a fine light purplish gray freestone which is 
soft when it comes from the quarry, but becomes 
almost like granite on long exposure to the air. It 
constitutes the great National Museum, in animal, 
vegetable, geological, and even social life. Relics of 
almost every administration, particularly from Wash- 
ington's to Jackson's time, are preserved here. 

James Smithson was the natural son of Sir Hugh 
Smithson, first Duke of Northumberland. James 
Smithson took a degree in Oxford in 1786. He died in 
Genoa, June, 1829. He desired to found in the United 
States, a land he never saw, an institution which should 
live in the memory of men when the titles of his ances- 

124 



BRANCHES OF INTERIOR DEPARTMENT 

tors, the Northumberlands and the Percys, were ex- 
tincft and forgotten. 

The institution is for the increase of knowledge 
among men. It assists scientific men in original re- 
search, and it publishes the results, which are sent to 
leading libraries, and are also accessible to scientists 
throughout the land. 

The bequest was for several years before Congress, 
but in 1846, when the funds had reached three-fourths 
of a million dollars, the Smithsonian Institution was 
founded. 

Its translators turn all scientific works into English, 
so that Americans can have the benefit of them in their 
own language. 

Miss Thora Steineger, a Norwegian lady, has charge 
of the classification of all animals received by the 
Smithsonian. Women's work in the scientific depart- 
ments is gradually increasing, as colleges, like Vassar, 
Wellesley, Smith, and Bryn Mawr give more and more 
attention to science. 

Here one can see the birds of all lands, animals of 
every clime, vegetation from every latitude. The 
idols of heathendom glare at passers-by ; the quaint 
costumes of the Asiatics, the Eskimos of the extreme 
North, and the inhabitants of the islands of the 
sea are worn by wax figures so lifelike that one almost 
fears to make any comment in their presence. 

The fruits of much of the learning of the world are 
under this roof, and every youtli in our Luid should see 
its classic stores. 



125 



XXII 

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS 



THIS bureau is located in a beautiful white 
__^ marble building between Seventh and 
^^1 Eighth streets, facing the Patent Office. 
These two buildings are among the very 
best specimens of archite(5lure in the capital. 

Hon. Francis K. I^eupp, the Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs, receives a salary of $5,000; the Assistant 
Commissioner receives $3,000. They have about one 
hundred assistants in Washington, consisting of clerks, 
bookkeepers, stenographers, superintendents, archi- 
te(5ls, draftsmen, etc. Of persons connected with 
Indian affairs, on the field, including Indian agents, 
storekeepers, teachers, farmers, and artisans, fully 
10,000 are paid government money. There are in the 
United States, exclusive of Alaska, 269,388 Indians 
under the government care. Of these, 184,881 are 
not included in the five great tribes. Over 98,000 of 
these Indians wear the dress of civilization, and over 
46,000 can read and write. Of communicant church- 
members there are 30,935 — not a very large proportion 
after two hundred years of instru6lion. 

There are 59 agencies, and about 20,000 Indians out- 
side of the agencies. The reservations are, generally 
speaking, the lands which white men considered they 
would never want, being the most barren, forlorn, 
hopeless spots in the state or territory in which they 
126 



BURRAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS 

are located. Bad as they are, many of them are now 
coveted by fhe white man, who, under the plea of 
breaking up Indian tribal relations, will within a few 
years buy or appropriate the last acre. 

There are now no nomadic tribes ; the hunting- 
grounds are all taken, and the Indian must work, 
receive government rations, or die. The Indians re- 
ceive over $200,000 in money, some by contract re- 
ceive rations through removal, and all are assisted with 
agricultural implements, seeds, and breeding animals. 

It was once my lot to see an Indian tribe forcibly 
removed from some place in the North to the Indian 
Territory. A more sorrowful sight can scarcely be 
imagined. My recolle(5lion is that they were the Nez 
Perces. They were large men with fine heads and 
faces. The women were worthy to be the mothers of 
warriors. As they camped for the night, the men 
gathered in small circular groups, sat Turkish fashion 
on the ground, and smoked their pipes in absolute 
silence. Sorrow, dejecftion, and despair were written 
all over them. The women pitched the tents and 
cooked the suppers, with the bent bodies and cast- 
down countenances of broken hearts. 

A company of regular army men was their escort. 
I spoke to the officers. The captain said : " I hope 
my government will never again detail my company 
to do such work. It simply uses me up to see these 
l^roken-hearted people. Many have escaped, but I 
can not shoot them." 

That they have been deeply wronged, no one doubts; 
that they are still in many cases vi(5lims of the white 
man's cupidity, is self-evident ; but the government is 

127 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

trying to do the best now possible for them. It is not 
possible in a short time to correcft the errors of a cen- 
tury, but when kind hearts and wise brains are adling 
in their behalf the future may be considered more 
hopeful. 

It is gratifying to see that the present Commissioner 
urges that local schools shall do the work with the 
Indians, for even tho the Indian should learn less, his 
home ties will be maintained, and his knowledge, as 
it is acquired, will be applied in the home. Then the 
reconcentrado methods can be abolished. 

Young Indians should be placed with farmers to 
learn farming, and paid as much as their work is 
worth. In the same way girls should learn house- 
keeping. Of all people the Indian is a social being. 
If placed on farms all the homes would center in one 
place. Our young white people can not stand the 
loneliness of the farm ; how can we expecft people who 
have had tribal relations to endure it ? 

The white man's trades and occupations only to the 
degree positivel}^ needed should be forced upon them ; 
but their own bead- work, fancy baskets, queer pot- 
tery, and Navajo blankets should be greatly" improved, 
and their artistic tastes in their own line cultivated. 
Let us make them see that we white people like their 
own charadteristic work, and we will not need to turn 
their industry into new lines. 

Miss Kstelle Reel, Superintendent of Indian Schools, 
visits all the Indian schools, whether in civilization at 
Carlisle and Hampton or at the farthest reservation. 
She receives a salary of $3,000, with an allowance 
of Ji, 500 for traveling expenses. Stage-coach, buck- 
128 




Photo by Clinedinst 

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Photo by Clineiliust 



THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY 



BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS 

board, railroad, boat, and canoe are familiar servants in 
her work. 

Every line of her splendid reports teems with heart- 
and-soul enthusiasm. She has just put out a book 
entitled, *' Course of Study for the Indian Schools of 
the United States, Industrial and lyiterary," Besides 
the common school branches, it treats of the elements 
of agriculture, bakery, basketry, blacksmithing, car- 
pentry, cooking, housekeeping, laundry, phyvSiology, 
shoemaking, tailoring, upholstering, and, in facft, 
almost everything needed in daily living. Through 
it all runs a real pracftical teaching in morality — that 
good work is truth, bad work is untruth. Work in 
any one is the measure of chara(5ler. 

You remember President Roosevelt, in his New 
York speech concerning missions, spoke of the great 
underpaid army of faithful clergymen all over this 
land who, in obscure places, hold up the corre(5l models 
of morality, who keep the ideals of the nation to 
honest, simple, earnest, true daily living. Much 
more is this true of the missionaries among the In- 
dians. 

I remember once visiting the Indian school at Albu- 
querque, New Mexico. Professor Bryan was then at the 
head of it. The vSchool was partly supported by funds 
from the Presbyterian Church and partly by government 
money. At the table I was trying to find from each 
one his or her share in the great work they were 
doing, I asked each one, and each gave me a short, 
graphic account of his work. I sat at Professor 
Bryan's right hand ; just opposite me sat a bright- 
faced German, looking the wisest person at the table. 

12U 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

As I came to him I said, ' ' And you, Professor ? ' ' 
" Madam, I am the cook." Whether my face flushed 
with surprise or not I do not know. No one smiled. 
After a somewhat embarrassing moment for me, he 
said-: *' Madam, since I was a little boy I have desired 
to be a missionary to the Indians. I received a good 
education, graduated at the Berlin University, took a 
course in theolog}^ at a seminary in Germany, then 
came here, where I found that my imperfedl English 
was an insurmountable barrier to religious w^ork among 
the Indians. We had no cook. Some of our best teach- 
ers were ill nearly all the time, so I became the cook, 
and I do it unto God, believing that every soul saved 
by these devoted workers, whose health I have im- 
proved, is part of my work. Do you approve?" 

"Do I approve?" I said. "Why, ever}^ pot and 
kettle becomes a san(5lified implement in your hand. 
The Master said: ' And whosoever of you will be the 
chief est, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of 
man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, 
and to give his life a ransom for many. ' ' ' 



130 



XXIII 

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



^T^ HK great necessity for a separate building for a 

* I Congressional Library \^'as first urged by 
j^gal Mr. A. R. Spofford, in his Librarian's Re- 
port in 1872, An appropriation was made 
for the purchase of the ground in 1886. The site con- 
sists of ten acres of ground, facing the east front of 
the Capitol. The ground and the old buildings 
upon it cost $585,000, and the building itself, $6,032,- 
124.34. 

It is the handsomest, most convenient, and best 
lighted and ventilated library building In the world, 
and I believe it to be the handsomest building for pub- 
lic purposes in the world. The building is of the Ital- 
ian Rennaissance order of archite(5lure. It has three 
stories and a dome, and covers three and a half acres 
of ground. Its dimensions are 470 x 340 feet, and the 
height of the wall 69 feet. 

The Library, or collecftion of books, was founded in 
1800, Congress appropriating $5,000 for that purpose. 
When the Capitol building was fired by the British, 
this Library was nearly destroyed. It also suffered 
from fire in 1851. 

The Library of Congress purchases rare l)ooks from 
all lands. Its chief source of supply is through the 
copyright law, which requires that two copies of ever}^ 
book copyrighted should be sent to the Library. It has 

131 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

acquired by gift or purchase the I^ibrary of Thomas 
Jefferson, of 6,700 volumes, for which $23,950 was 
paid, the Force Historical Colledlion in 1865, the 
Smithsonian lyibrary in 1867, and the Toner Collec- 
tion in 1882. 

The Smithsonian division is largely composed of 
books on scientific subje(5ls. The law library of over 
92,000 books yet remains in the Capitol building. 

The Force Library is a fine colledlion of books, 
manuscripts, and papers concerning the early history 
of America, especially of the Colonial times. 

Every pidture, photograph, piece of music, engrav- 
ing, dramatic production, pamphlet, or brochure pub- 
lished in the United States can be found here in the copy- 
right edition. The collec^tion is the largest in the west- 
ern hemisphere, comprising about 1,000,000 books and 
pamphlets. The Library has forty-five miles of shelv- 
ing, which is more than twice its present requirements. 
There are in the book division 207 employees, and in 
the copyright-rooms 49. The caretakers number 116. 
The appropriations by Congress for service, and for the 
printing, binding, and purchasing of books, amount to 
not less than $1,000,000 annually. 

Any one can read or study in the Library, but only 
Congressmen, members of the Supreme Court or their 
families, or the President's family, are permitted to 
take books from the building. No pen-and-ink work 
is allowed in the Library, for fear of stains. 

In the basement, one room is set apart for the blind, 
where they may read for themselves, and almost every 
afternoon they have a concert, or some noted author 
reads from his own writings, or some distinguished 

132 



»Wi»iPir*<ir iWiyiiwww^ 




ONE OF THE liRONZl''. DOORS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL 
LIBRARY 



133 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

speaker le(5lures before a most appreciative audience of 
blind people. 

The present Librarian is Mr. Herbert Putnam, of 
Boston. The most interesting personality in the 
building is Mr. Ainsworth R. Spofford, who was the 
Librarian from 1864 to 1897.* He was appointed 
during Mr. Lincoln's administration. He is a walking 
encyclopedia. 

I once asked him for the names of a few books on 
anthropolog3\ He poured out such a stream of titles 
and authors that I w^as obliged to call for quarter. He 
then wrote me out a list of fifteen titles and authors, 
taking only a minute or two for the whole matter. He 
seems conversant with every subjecft. His memory 
concerning books is simply phenomenal. 

In the Library is a perfe(5l copy of Eliot's Indian 
Bible, published in Cambridge in 1661, the last copy 
of which brought $1,000, Here, too, may be found 
the works of Cotton and Increase Mather (1671 to 
1735), and leading journals, all publications of our 
country from 1735 to 1800. Bound volumes of many 
of them can also be found here. The first edition of 
the Mormon Bible, published in 1830, and printed at 
Palmyra, New York ; Archbishop Cramer's version of 
the Bible, 1553 ; Martin Luther's Bible ; and the 
Catholic version of the New Testament, 1582, are 
among the rare volumes in the Library. 

An extra(5l from a copy of the Washington Post of 
1897 well describes the official test of the device for 
sending books to and from the Capitol : 

An official test of the device for transporting books between 

* Mr. Spofford died at Holdness, Mass,, August ii, 1908. 

134 



THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

the Capitol and the new Congressional Library was made yes- 
terday afternoon. Mr. John Russell Young, the Librarian ; 
Chief Assistant Librarian Spofford, and Superintendent Ber- 
nard R. Green assembled in the small receiving-room, just off 
Statuary Hall, about 2 o'clock. Mr. Young had prepared 
for the test a list of books known only to himself until they 
were ordered from the Library. 

The first volume sent for was William Winter's poems. Mr. 
Young gave out the name and Mr. Green wrote it on a slip of 
paper. This was placed in the pneumatic tube, which flashed 
it to Mr. David Hutcheson, who is in charge of the reading- 
room of the new Library. The book was ordered by Mr. 
Hutcheson from the shelf-clerk and sent to the desk in the 
center of the reading-room by the Library carrier. It was 
then taken to the big carrier in the basement and started on 
its journey to the Capitol. The time consumed from the 
moment of sending the order by pneumatic tube until the 
leather case containing the desired volume deposited its cargo 
before Mr. Young was exactly ten minutes. 

Mr. Young then sent for a copy of "Faust" in German, 
Hugo's " Les Chatiments," and Hildreth's " History of the 
United States," vol. i., all on one order, and for the London 
Ti7>ies of 1815, the year of the battle of Waterloo, on a sepa- 
rate order. The "Faust" and the history arrived in eight 
minutes and "Les Chatiments" on the next carrier. The 
order for the London Times was an extreme test, as the vol- 
ume is so large that the carriers in the Library connecting 
with the shelves would not accommodate it, and a messenger 
had to be sent from the main desk to the top deck of the south 
stack, where the newspaper files are shelved. When the mes- 
senger returned he just missed the carrier, which had been 
sent off with one of the other volumes ordered, and he had to 
wait the four minutes consumed by the transit of the carriers 
before he could start the Times on its journey. It arrived at 
the Capitol just thirteen minutes after the order for it was 
sent. 

The carrier consists of an endless cable, with two metal 
baskets at an equal distance from each other. These work 

135 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

on the cable, the power for which is furnished by the Li- 
brary dynamo. The books are carried through the tunnel, 
and when they reach the wheels which change the direc- 
tion, the speed is automatically slackened, so that the deliv- 
ery is made gently and without the possibility of damage. 
Smaller books are first placed in a large sole-leather case. 
The carriers are taken through the tunnel at the rate of 
six hundred feet per minute. Should any trouble occur, 
the mechanism can be instantly stopped by an electric 
button, one at each end. The machinery of the carriers 
and its instalment was largely the work of Superintendent 
Green. 

All who witnessed the test were surprised at the ease and 
swiftness with which the books could be sent for, taken from 
the shelves, and transported a distance of about a quarter of 
a mile. Librarian Young was very much gratified. He 
characterized the system as remarkable. The test also 
demonstrated that the arrangement of the books in their new. 
quarters is perfect, as those sent for were selected at random 
and were readily picked out from the enormous collection by 
those in charge of the shelves. 

In this labyrinth of beaut}^ known as the Library 
of Congress, I believe a man would see no fault. But 
women, except as allegorical charadlers, such as im- 
aginary figures of history, science, pomology, art, 
etc. , have no share in the scheme of ornamentation. 
But men of all ages, of all branches of art, science, 
commerce, and literature, are memorialized in paint- 
ing, sculpture, writing, or suggestion of some kind, 
either concrete or abstradl. It is true, Sappho (whom 
I suppose the artist thought was a man), grown dim 
in the long vista of years, is a lone woman among the 
world's Hite. No George Eliot, nor George Sand, 
nor Harriet Hosmer, nor Rosa Bonheur, nor Mrs. 
Browning, nor Mrs. Stowe now stands near Holmes, 
186 



THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Whittier, lyougfellow, Byron, or Landseer. This omis- 
sion is not like our gallant American men. 

I remember once at a table in London some distin- 
guished English women were complimenting the 
achievements of American women. I replied, "I 
have met the college women of almost ever}^ European 
country. I do not find American women in any way 
mentally superior to the women of Europe. But 
American women accomplish much more than their 
sisters east of the Atlantic simply because of our men. 
Now here in England 3'Our husband and brothers 
insist on silence, but with us if a woman sings or talks 
well it is the hand of her .husband or father that leads 
her to the front, and it is the kindness of our men that 
starts us on our public life, helps us at hard places, 
and encourages us everywhere. No, it is not our 
wome7t who are superior, it is our men, our gracious, 
helpful men." 

Whatever women in the United States have accom- 
plished beyond their sisters in foreign lands has been 
done because of the friendly, cordial, helpful encourage- 
ement of their husbands, brothers, and fathers ; so in 
this Library the womanhood of the world is .slighted 
in the house of her friends. 



137 



XXIV 

THE PENSION OFFICE 



^T^ HK Pension building is situated on Judiciary 

* I Square, near G Street. It is the largest de- 
^^m partment building in Washington, being 400 
feet from east to west and 200 from north to 
south, and 75 feet high. 

The walls surround an interior courtyard, two gal- 
leries extend around this court, and from these galleries 
access is attained to the rooms on the second and third 
stories. The building cost half a million dollars ; it is 
of mixed architecfture, not beautiful in appearance, 
but the best lighted, heated, and ventilated department 
building in the city. It is sometimes called ' ' the 
Meigs (name of architedl) Barn," because its outline 
is not unlike a Pennsylvania red barn. 

When the architecft had finished escorting General 
Sheridan through the building, just after its com- 
pletion, the former inquired enthusiastically, ''Well, 
Sheridan, how do you like it ? " 

" I find only one fault," said the General, solemnly; 
" it is fireproof." 

At the close of the year 1908 there were on the rolls 
951,687 pensioners. During 1908 there were added 
413,017, with a loss from death of 428,701, making a 
1 )ss above all gains of 15,684. 

The number of pensioners should grow less each year. 

There remain on the rolls the names of no widows 
138 



THE PENSION OFFICE 



and but two daughters of Revolutionary soldiers. In 
the last report of the Commissioner of Pensions (1900) 
but one soldier of the War of 1 81 2 survived. He was at 
that time (September 10, 1901) loi years of age. Of 
the Mexican War, the names of 2,932 soldiers and 6,914 
widows are still on the rolls ; of the Indian wars (1832- 
1842), 1,820 survivors and 3,018 widows. The war 
with Spain left a legacy of 20,548 invalids, 1,145 
widows, and 510 nurses, drawing pensions. Besides 
these there is the great army of Civil War pensioners. 

If the government would, at least twice each year, 
publish in each county the names of persons receiving 
pensions, the amount paid, and the alleged cause of 
disability, it would bring the blush of shame to the 
face of many a liar who now draws a handsome sum 
from his government. The money is largely paid 
into the United States Treasury not by the rich of 
our country, but 1)}^ the laboring class of men and 
women. 

Patriotism which requires a lifelong stipend is of 
doubtful color. 

Soldiers of the Spanish War at the time of their dis- 
charge were obliged to sign papers declaring any dis- 
ability which existed. Then each soldier was exam- 
ined by the surgeon and his company officers, and 
these again certified either to his perfecT: health or to 
his disability. It was found that the health of many 
had been greatly improved by exercise in the open air, 
free life, and plain diet. 

Eleven years after the Civil War only six per cent, of 
the Union soldiers and sailors had api)lie{l for a pension ; 
it was found only a little over three }-ears had passed 

139 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

since the close of the one hundred days' war with 
Spain, yet more than twenty per cent, of the soldiers 
and sailors of that war had applied for pensions. 

The great majority of those mustered out had de- 
clared over their own signatures, and that of the sur- 
geon and commanding officer of the company to which 
they belonged, that they had no disability whatever. 
Yet thousands of these very men applied for pen- 
sions, and in their applications have set forth in minute 
detail the large number of disabilities acquired in the 
service. One man within forty-eight hours after his 
discharge as a sound man discovered ten physical ills, 
any one of which should suffice to secure the bounty of 
a generous government. 

I submit the following extradl from Commissioner 
Evans' last report : 

A good object-lesson in this regard is furnished by the his- 
tory of a volunteer regiment which was recognized as one of 
the "crack" regiments in service during the war with Spain. 
Its membership was notably a fine body of men, and its offi- 
cers were men of experience and ability and skilled in military 
matters. Few regiments had as good a record for service as 
this one. It was at Camp Alger for a time, then at Camp 
Thomas, then at Tampa, Fla.; thence sailed for Santiago de 
Cuba, where it was placed in the trenches and did good ser- 
vice until it returned to Montauk. From there it was returned 
to the place of its enrolment, and at the expiration of a sixty 
days' furlough was mustered out of service. 

This regiment had a membership of 53 commissioned officers 
and 937 enlisted men. There were no battle-field casualties, 
but I officer and 22 men died of disease while in the service. 
The published report of the medical officer on the muster out of this 
res^iynent shows that I per cent, of the 7n^n of the regiment were 
improved by military service ; 5 per cent, were in as good physical 

140 



THE PENSION OFFICE 



condition as at time of enlistment ; 2^ per cent, were but slightly 
affected, and, as a rule, the troubles were not traceable to military 

service. Of the remainder {yo per cent.), or ^28 tnen, the general 
condition was as follows : 

Irritable heart, due to fever 365 

Mitral regurgitation 4 

Chronic bronchitis 214 

Acute bronchitis 47 

Phthisis 3 

Gastritis 158 

Enlarged or congested liver 116 

Enlarged spleen 316 

Inflammatory condition of intestines 53 

Irritability of bladder and incontinence of urine 76 

Nephritis 5 

Hemorrhoids 11 

Varicocele 61 

Inguinal hernia 3 

Rheumatism 26 

Myopia 19 

Slight eye strains 29 

Slight deafness, due to quinine 17 

Chronic nasal catarrh 9 

Sprain of back 3 

Old dislocation, right shoulder i 

Gunshot wounds, left forearm 2 

Badly set Colic's fracture i 

Secondary syphilis 2 

Suffering from pains in the muscles, especially the calves 
of the legs and lumbar region, loss of weight from 

10 to 30 pounds, accompanied by more or less debility . 471 

Relapses of fever continuing to recur up to January 4, 1899 87 



Up to June 30, 1901, 477 claims for pension have been filed 
in this bureau on account of service in said regiment for dis- 
abilities allegeil to have been contracted during the brief term 
of its existence. 

I am fully convi'nced that a small pension of $6 or $8 per 
month for alleged obscure disability, such as diarrhea, piles, 
rheumatism, impaired hearing, bronchitis, etc., is conferring 
a misfortune upon a young man — in fact, a life-long misfor- 

141 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

tune — for the reason that it puts him to a decided disadvan- 
tage in the race for a livelihood always thereafter in the way 
of securing employment. 

The fact that he is drawing a "'disability" pension puts 
him on the list as disabled and unable to perform the amount 
of labor that is expected of a sound man, and it seems like 
misplaced generosity on the part of our government to thus 
place a handicap upon the young ex-soldier in his search for 
employment, as it is well known that a large percentage of 
the young men that served in the war with Spain depend upon 
manual labor for a livelihood. 

Mr. Eugene F. Ware, the late Commissioner, issued 
the following table to show the difference between 
the regulars and volunteers of the Spanish -American 
War: 



REGIMENTS 


Killed 


Wounded 


Missing 


Claims 
filed for 
pensions 


Volunteers— 
ist— District of Columbia . . 

9th— Massachusetts 

33d— Michigan 

34th Michigan 

8th Ohio 























472 
685 
573 
615 
652 




Total 




17 

13 
12 




106 

93 
90 
107 

75 




17 



17 
6 


2,997 

162 
249 

S7 
143 
123 


Regulars— 

6th U. S. Infantry 

7th U. S. Infantry 

13th U. S. Infantry 

i6th U. S. Infantry 

24th U. S. Infantry 


Total . . 


83 


471 


40 


764 







It is believed that this specftacle, which indicates 
lack of patriotism, is due to the solicitation of the 
pension agent, who received $20 for every pension 
secured. Now this condition of things is an outrage. 

142 



TIIK PKNSION OFFICE 



The name of every man who receives a pension should 
be published. If he really deserves it, no other citizen 
will objedl ; if not, he should be scorched by the 
communit}'. 

Is it any wonder that with such a raid upon the 
United States Treasury that the pension work is slow, 
and that many soldiers and widows of soldiers of the 
Civil War have not yet received their deserved pen- 
sions ? 

It seems to me the following extra(5l from the report 
of the Commissioner of Pensions, in reference to ille- 
galities connecfted with applications, may be of interest 
as showing the condition of affairs in 1902: 



The 226 indictments tried, which resulted in convictions, 
were based upon the following charges : 

False claim 64 

False certification 26 

False affidavit 16 

False personation 5 

Perjury 40 

Forgery 18 

Illegal fee 26 

Personating government officer 21 

Retaining pension certificate 2 

Prosecuting claims while a government officer 4 

Conspiracy 2 

Embezzlement i 

Attempted bribery i 

It has been the uniform practise not to recommend prose- 
cution in any case unless the criminal intent of the parties 
was clearly shown; and in the cases of soldiers and their de- 
pendents, to resolve every doubt in their favor, and not to 
recommend prosecution where it was apparent that they had 
been drawn into a violation of the law by others. As a result 
of this practise, the majority of the convictions secured were 
against attorneys, agents, sub-agents, magistrates, and others 

143 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

responsible for the preparation and filing of false and fraudu- 
lent claims and evidence, and those who falsely personated 
soldiers or soldiers' widows. 

Eugene F. Ware succeeded Mr. Evans as Com- 
missioner of Pensions early in 1902. Mr. Ware is a 
Kansas man, prominent both in the literature and 
politics of that State for the last twenty-five years. 
He has stirred up matters in the Pension Bureau by 
making even the humblest clerk feel that good work 
will meet with promotion, and that no influence can 
keep inefficiency in that responsible place. He has 
also announced that no one who habitually uses intox- 
icants can be entrusted with the responsibility of look- 
ing after the aged and indigent soldiers, forlorn 
widows, and helpless children. The consequence is 
some have been dismissed for drunkenness, others 
have resigned, others have quit their cups. Mr. Ware 
comes from a state where prohibition has made the 
jail a useless building except for storing the great 
surplus of corn. One of his poems says : 

The horse-thief went, the cowboy joined the church, 
The justice of the peace is laughed to scorn ; 
The constable has tumbled from his perch, 
The school has left the sheriff in the lurch — 
The jail is full of corn. 

His poem on John Brown, the hero of freedom, 
satisfies. The first three verses read as follows : 

States are not great except as men may make them ; 

Men are not great except they do and dare. 
But states, like men, have destinies that take them — 

That bear them on, not knowing why or where. 

144 



THE pp:nsion office 



The why repels the philosophic searcher, 
The WHY and where all questionings defy, 

Until we find, far back in youthful nurture, 
Prophetic facts that constitute the why. 

All merit comes from braving the unequal, 
All glory comes from daring to begin ; 

Fate loves the state that, reckless of the sequel, 
Fights long and well, whether it lose or win. 

Mr. Ware was Commissioner of Pensions from May lo, 
1902, to January i, 1905. Then, much to the regret 
of President Roosevelt, he resigned. Mr. Vespasian 
Warner, of Chnton, 111., was appointed Commissioner 
January 16, 1905. Mr. Warner had an honorable 
record as member of Congress from 1895 to the time 
of his appointment as Commissioner. During the last 
four years fewer complaints have come from the Pen- 
sion Office than in former years. 



145 



XXV 

STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS 

^T^Ihe State, War, and Navy departments are in 
•^ J one handsome four-storied granite building, 

^£11 with a frontage of 343 feet and a depth of 565 
feet, situated on Pennsylvania Avenue, just 
west of the White House, The building is one of the 
handsomest in the city, being of the French Rennais- 
sance, modified b}^ American ideas. It has five hun- 
dred rooms and two miles of marble halls. In the 
west wing of the building the Secretary of War, Hon. 
Klihu Root, and General Miles, Commander of the 
Army, have handsome rooms for themselves and their 
many avSsistants. In the east wing can be found the 
Secretary of the Navy and rooms for the Admirals and 
their corps of helpers, and in the south wing the pop- 
ular Secretary of State, the Hon. John Hay, with a 
comparatively small number of assistants. 

STATE DEPARTMENT 

In the department of the Secretary of State one sees 
the portraits of all the great men who have occupied 
the position of Secretary of State from the time of 
Washington down to the present occupant. Most 
people would be interested in the Huntington portraits 
of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, and in a copy of 
Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Washington. In the State 
Department the most interesting are the portraits of 



STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DKPARTMENTvS 

Thomas Jefferson, 1789, Washington's first term ; 
Daniel Webster, 1841 and 1850; William H. Seward, 
1 861 and 1865 ; Elihu B. Washburne, 1869 ; Hamil- 
ton Fish, 1869 ; William M. Evarts, 1877 ; James G. 
Blaine, 1881 and 1889 ; and F. T. Frelinghuysen, 1881. 
A portrait of Lord Ashburton recalls the * ' Ashburton 
Treaty" of 1842, which defined the boundaries be- 
tween the United States and the British Possessions in 
North America, and provided for the suppression of 
the vSlave-trade. 

In the State Department are some of the most pre- 
cious archives of the nation. Here can be found the 
original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution 
with the original signatures. Here can be seen the 
handwriting of most of the rulers of the world during 
the last hundred years affixed to treaties. One of the 
most unique of these is a treaty with Japan. The 
clear Japanese charadlers cover many pages, the royal 
signature is at the top, and 3^ou read from the bottom. 
The treaty was brought to Washington by two Japan- 
ese officials of high rank, who were charged with its 
safe delivery on penalty of their lives. One day they 
triumphantly entered the State Department bearing 
aloft on two bapiboo poles a curiously constru(fted box, 
in which was the precious document. They were 
greatly relieved when they saw it safely deposited with 
the Secretary of State. 

Here are the papers of Washington, Adams, and 
Jefferson ; here are all the flags taken in all the wars 
in which the United vStatcs have engaged. 

The diplomatic rooms are of great l^eaut}-. Here 
Mr. Knox receives foreign ministers, consuls, and 

147 



In congress. July 4. ^77^. 



)t tttmttimoiti^ccfarctf ton of& ^„.„. „!4> $(al^ of ^nwr 1(^0'. 



fj^ >iw|^ -<i;,4«„ ^MfJtf/L^l/L,^ ^y.^/*^ «-_CJ: <)t-X- /-tSS-"— ^/ .<.iS^ f^-MtrtXn^ . . i^ —^.^Hrll .j«— /~ 



» . Zy, ^. =»i»X™-,,v<i,.A.feSl,<St^^„ /i^ .^M. U^^ VfTf.,,^,^ 



^^i,/^.^jU.,~^..,^Wf-i^f.>i^C^Mf^XM^/, 



■^.--^ 






i^^^^y. -^''-^^is^^ ^0:m^ Vm^xx. 



•'^*^^2^^ ';^£c-f^^ ^^5,w^^ »^^^L_ 



^,^ 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



348 



STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DICPARTMKNTvS 

special messengers from foreign lands. Here at almost 
any time can be seen members of some of the thirty- 
five foreign embassies and legations. Many of these 
legations own and maintain handsome residences. A 
statement prepared by Distridl Assessor Darneille 
shows that foreign governments own over $500,000 
worth of real property in the District of Columbia, the 
estimated value of the land being $330,776, and the 
improvements $284,500. The French and Chinese 
gov^ernments have recently purchased valuable tracts 
of land, and eredted magnificent legation buildings 
which will increase the value of property held by for- 
eign governments to nearly $1,000,000. 

Probably the most charadleristic feature of both 
political and social life in Washnigton is afforded by 
the presence of these legations. The members are 
more conspicuous here than at an 3^ other national 
capital in the world, except, possibly, Peking. Not to 
speak of Asiatic costumes and customs, European 
manners and morals, if we except those of England 
and Germany, which are much the same as our own, 
contrast most decidedly with their American corre- 
spondents. Most of the men are pure pagans — cynics 
and materialists. They look upon a profession of 
Christianity at its best as a mark of intellecftual weak- 
ness, and at its worst of hypocrisy. Their own faces, 
however, do not indicate that they are exceptionally 
broad-minded or good and sincere men. 

I have seen them in public receptions stand on one 
side and chatter in PVench, vSpanish, or Italian, poking 
all sorts of fun at the hostess and her entertainment, 
and then, as she approached, rUvSh to greet her with a 

149 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

mock homage which made my flesh creep. I have 
heard them declare that " all Americans are cads," and 
the next instant pro\^e the less sweeping proposition 
that ' ' all cads are not Americans ' ' by fulsome com- 
pliments to a distinguished Justice or Senator. 

The}^, however, dispense a generous hospitality^ and 
society, which has learned to estimate them b}^ their 
own cj^nical standards, and is neither elated by their 
smiles nor annihilated b}" their snubs, cultivates them 
as best suits its own purpose. 

The United States supports abroad thirty-eight 
embassies and legations, consisting of ministers, secre- 
taries, and attaches, besides about one thousand 
consuls. 

The Congressional Director}^ gives the personal his- 
tory of Secretary Knox as follows: 

Philander Chase Knox, Secretary of State (1527 K Street), 
was born in Brownsville, Pa., May 6, 1853, son of David S. 
and Rebekah Knox ; his father was a banker in Brownsville ; 
graduated at Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio, in 1S72 ; 
entered the law office of H. B. Swope, Pittsburg, Pa., and 
was admitted to the bar in 1S75 ; was assistant United States 
District Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 
1876 ; was elected president of the Pennsylvania Law Associa- 
tion in 1897 ; was made Attorney-General in the Cabinet of 
President McKinley in 1901 as successor to Hon. John 
William Griggs, of New Jersey, resigned, and was sworn into 
ofRce April 9, 1901 ; was the choice of President Roosevelt for 
Attorney-General in his Cabinet, and was confirmed by the 
Senate December 16, 1901 ; resigned that office June 30, 1904, 
to accept appointment as United States Senator, tendered by 
Governor Pennypacker June 10, to fill a vacancy caused by 
the death of Hon. M. S. Quay, and took his seat December 
6 ; was elected by the Legislature in January, 1905, for the 

150 



STATK, WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMKNTS 

term ending March 3, 191 1 ; resigned as Senator March 4, 
IQ09, to accept the position of Secretary of State, and was 
nominated, confirmed and commissioned March 5. 

Congress had to repeal the adl raising the salary of 
the Secretary of State before Mr. Knox could take the 
position, because he was in the Senate when the salary 
was raised. 

THE WAR DEPARTMENT 

In time of war or just following a war the most in- 
teresting department is that which was lately occupied 
by Elihu Root and William H. Taft. Mr. Root is 
noted as a great corporation lawyer, and at first seemed 
to consider tliat the government of the United States 
could be run on the same principles as a great corpo- 
ration — that is, " We shall do as we please in spite of 
public opinion." But he was severely brought to task 
for this. Later he became Secretary of State. 

In spite of this, the report of this department, dated 
December, 1901, shows difficult, conscientious, mag- 
nificent work performed by the War Department since 
the close of the war with Spain. Possibly the quiet 
prejudice which existed throughout the country against 
Mr. Root was largely the result of his treatment of 
General Miles. He did not like the old General, but 
the country did. Mr. Root could do many splendid 
things before the farmer, who only reads his weekly paper 
and to whose brain new things come slowly, forgave him 
for rudeness to a man of the people, whose merit had 
placed him at the head of the army. Any one who 
thinks he wins favor by calling General Miles "old 
fuss and feathers," as some newspapers do, quite for- 
gets that the American people like fuss and feathers. 

151 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 



In spite of the above, Mr. Root is a great patriotic 
man, who, with mental ability enough to earn $ioo,- 
Goo per year, gives his country the benefit of his 
talents for what must seem to him the modest sum of 
$i2;ooo. As an organizer and great executive officer 
he had no superior in the government employ. His 
last report shows the army located as follows : 

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ARMY, SEPTEMBER 25, I90I 



COUNTRY 


Officers 


Enlisted 
men 


Total 


United States 


1,922 

1,111 

166 

^6 

5 
17 


31,952 

42,128 

4,748 

1,490 

250 

157 

510 


33,874 

43,239 

4,914 

1,541 

2S6 


Philippine Islands 

Cuba 

Porto Rico 


Hawaiian Islands 


China 


162 


Alaska 


527 


Total 


3,278 


81,235 


84,513 



[In this table are included the 4,336 men of the Hospital Corps and the 25 
officers and 815 men of the Porto Rico Provisional Regiment, leaving the 
strength of the Regular Army 3,253 oflfiers and 76,084 enlisted men. 

In addition there are also in the Philippines 172 volunteer surgeons, 
appointed under section 18 of the act of February 2, 1901, and 98 ofl&cers 
and 4,973 native scouts.] 

Of course, now that the war in the Philippines is 
pracftically over, many more men have returned to the 
United States. 

In reading Mr. Root's report, nothing impresses one 
more than the splendid arrangement for the better edu- 
cation of army officers, not only as to military ta(5lics, 
but for full intelledlual equipment. Enlisted men who 
fit themselves by study, and retain good charadters by 
passing complete civil-service examination, become 
eligible to official positions among the regulars. Also 
officers of volunteer regiments by the same process 
152 



STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS 

become eligible to official positions in the regular 
army. 

Mr. Root recommended that officers of the National 
Guard, or officers of former volunteers, be permitted 
in their vacations to study with regular army officers 
at West Point, and at the army post schools, vSo that we 
may never again be caught without competent officers 
for volunteer regiments. His report contains full 
accounts of the forming of the new government in 
Cuba, the Cuban Constitution, a full account of all 
the troubles in the Philippines, the wonderful work 
accomplished by the signal corps, the territorial and 
military divisions of the Philippines, and recommenda- 
tions as to the proper currency and system of banking 
necessary in our Oriental possessions. 

He recommended the purchase of the lands of the 
friars, who could not continue to hold their possession 
peacefully on account of the hostility of the people, 
whom they have grossly wronged. 

His account of the very valuable unexplored timber 
lands of the islands, and the industries needed, made 
his report of great pradlical importance. 

Men of the United States army have alwa3\s been 
noted for their high standard of honor. The country 
believes in the integrity of the officers of the regular 
army. When any of them fail themselves and betray 
the trust imposed in them, it causes a shock to public 
feeling such as malfeasance in no other official position 
ever produces. To an unusually large extent they 
have been worthy of the trust reposed in them by a 
great nation. 

The French are no more jealous of the good name 

153 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

of their arni}^ than are Americans. The person who 
takes away the good name of our brave, patriotic, 
self-sacrificing men, " who are a-doing and a-dying " 
in the PhiHppines, because of the evil acftions of less 
than one-twentieth of their number, deserves public 
execration. The least w^e can do for our army is to 
give them their hard-earned laurels unspoiled. 

The following sketch of Mr. Root, bow benator from 
New York, is taken from " Who's Who in America " : 

Secretary of State from July i, 1905, until March 4, 1909; 
born in Clinton, N. Y., February 15, 184.5; son of Oren and 
Nancy Whitney (Buttrick) Root ; graduated from Hamilton 
College in 1864, where his father was for many years professor 
of mathematics ; taught at Rome Academy in 1865 ; gradu- 
ated from the University Law School of New York in 1867 ; 
(LL.D., Hamilton, 1S96; Yale, 1900; Columbia, 1904; New 
York University, 1904; Williams, 1905; Princeton, 1906; Uni- 
versity of Buenos Ayres, 1906; University of San Marcos of 
Lima, 1906; Harvard, 1907); married January 8, 1878, Clara, 
daughter of Salem H. Wales, of New York; U. S. Attorney 
for the Southern District of New York, 1883-85; delegate-at- 
large to the State Constitutional Convention in 1894, and 
chairman judiciary committee; appointed Secretary of War, 
August I, 1899, by President McKinley; reappointed March 5, 
1901; resigned February i. 1904; became Secretary of State, 
U. S., July I, 1905. Member Alaskan Boundary Tribunal in 
1903 ; temporary chairman Republican National Convention 
in 1904. Trustee of Hamilton College, Carnegie Institution, 
Washington; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Presi- 
dent Union League Club (New York), 1898-99 ; president New 
York City Bar Association, 1904-05; president American So- 
ciety of International Law, 1906. 



154 



XXVI 

STATE. WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS {Continued) 

the: navy department 



^T^ HE offices of the Nav}^ Department are situated 
y in the same building as those of the War 

^iill Department. The Secretary of the Navy- 
occupies some of these handsome rooms. 
On their walls are the picftures cf eighteen Secretaries, 
more than half the number of those who have occupied 
the high place being yet unrepresented. Secretary 
Long urged that the picftures of those yet waiting 
should be secured and given a place among these 
worthies. Down to Lincoln's day the following per- 
sons occupied the place of Secretary of the Navy : 

During Washington's administration the Secretaries 
of the Navy were also vSecretaries of War. Three men 
occupied the double position : Gen. Henry Knox, of 
Massachusetts ; Timothy Pickering, of MavSsachusetts; 
and James McHenry, of Maryland. In John Adams's 
administration the Navy was made a separate depart- 
ment. The vSecretaries of the Navy since 1798 have 
been as follows : Benjamin vStoddert, of Maryland ; 
Robert Smith, of Mar}land ; Jacob Crowninshield, of 
Massachusetts; Paul Hamilton, of South Carolina; 
William Jones, of Pennsylvania ; Penjamin W. Crown- 
inshield, of Massachusetts; Smith Thompson, of New 
York ; Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey ; John 
Branch, of North Carolina ; Levi Woodbury, of New 

155 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

Hampshire ; Mahlou Dickerson, of New Jersey ; 
James K. Paulding, of New York ; George E. Badger, 
of North Carolina ; Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia ; 
David Henshaw, of Massachusetts ; Thomas W. Gil- 
mer, of Virginia ; John Y. Mason, of Virginia ; 
George Bancroft, of Massachusetts ; William B. 
Preston, of Virginia ; William A. Graham, of North 
Carolina ; John P. Kennedy, of Maryland ; James C. 
Dobbin, of North Carolina ; Isaac Toucey, of Connec- 
ticut ; Gideon Welles, of Conne<flicut. Since then 
have come John Faxon, Adolph E. Bane, Geo. M. 
Robeson, Watson Goff, Jr. ; N. H. Hunt, Wm. E. 
Chandler, Wm. C. Whitney, Benj. F. Tracy, H. A. 
Hobart, John D. Long, M. H. Moody, Paul Morton, 
Chas. J. Bonaparte, S. H. Newberry and George von 
ly. Meyer. Mr. Long resigned in 1902, and was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Moody, who later was transferred to the 
Supreme Court. Of Mr. Meyer the Direcflorj^ says : 

George von Lengerke Meyer, of Hamilton. Mass., Sec- 
retary of the Navy, is trustee Provident Institution for Savings, 
Boston; director Old Colony Trust Company, Boston, Amos- 
keag Manufacturing Company, Manchester, N.H., and United 
Electric Securities Company, Boston ; was a member of the 
city government of Boston, 1890-1892 ; member of the Massa- 
chusetts House of Representatives, 1892-1896 ; Speaker of the 
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1894-1896 ; Repub- 
lican national committeeman, 1S98 to 1905 ; confirmed as 
ambassador to Italy December 14, 1900 ; transferred as am- 
bassador to Russia March 8, 1905 ; recalled in February, 1907, 
to enter the Cabinet as Postmaster-General, and took oath of 
office March 4, 1907, holding that post until March 6, 1909, 
when he took oath of office as Secretary of the Navy. 

Now that the United States has become a world 
power, the navy is the right arm of the government in 
156 



STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS 

taking needed supplies to our distant colonies, and in 
protecfling with devoted care the property of America 
the world over. 

The last annual report of the Secretary of the Navy 
showed that the United States has 252 regular naval 
vessels, 55 of special classes, besides as many more of 
inferior classes called standard vessels, such as steam - 
cutters, launches, cutters, etc. The Secretary's report 
shows that $84,181,863.89 was appropriated for naval 
expenses, of which about seventeen millions yet re- 
main unused. A large part of this has gone for new 
vessels. No part of the government is increasing so 
rapidly as the naval service. When all men are en- 
listed for which legal provision has been made, the 
naval and marine force will reach 34,810 men, or 
nearly 8,000 more than were in the army prior to the 
war with Spain. By the Congressional adls of 1864, 
1868, and 1876 the navy was fixed not to exceed 7,000 
men ; the a(5l of March 3, 1901, fixes the number at 
25,000, but the necessities of the country have in- 
creased it beyond this. 

The average citizen knows far less about the navy 
than about the army. Yet in time of war the army 
would be of little use without an efficient navy. In 
the Civil War no great progress was made in conquer- 
ing the vSouth till the blockade shut in the Southern 
States, preventing the export of cotton and the bring- 
ing in of the necessities of life. 

In the late war with Spain, l^rilHant as was the 
service of the army, yet our navy carried away the 
greater laurels. 

The North Atlantic Squadron during the last 

157 



WASHINGTON: ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

fiscal year has been engaged in severe training in 
markmanship and evolutions, gaining facility in land- 
ing large guns, etc. The vessels of this squadron have 
extended their operations from Maine to Central 
America, particularly among the West Indies. The 
South Atlantic Squadron has assisted in commercial 
interests along the coast of South America. The 
European Squadron is now mostly in the Mediterra- 
nean Sea. The Pacific Squadron is scattered over 
such a great length of coast from Alaska to South 
America that the ships can not drill as a squadron, but 
are obliged to maneuver singly. The apprentice and 
training squadrons have been along the coast of 
Europe, but are now in the West Indies. These are 
afloat continually, except when stopped for repairs or 
supplies. 

Possibly no condition in the war with Spain annoyed 
us so much as the use of powder which emitted smoke 
and thus showed just where our men were located, 
while they dealt with an unseen foe. The navy has 
taken up this matter, and is experimenting on the use 
and making of vSmokeless powder. We shall not be 
caught napping again. The navy is also practising 
wireless telegraphy; and while it can not be said to 
have adopted any of the half dozen systems now before 
the public, yet so far it has secured the best results 
from the Marconi system. This is used by Great 
Britain and Italy. Germany uses the Slaby system, 
France and Russia the Ducretet system. The Secre- 
tary of the Navy insists that none is a perfe(5l suc- 
cess, as the difficulty of interference has not yet been 
entirely overcome. Wireless telegraphy has carried 

158 



STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS 

messages between British war-ships i6o miles apart. 
In 1908 and 1909 the fleet went around the world. 

We have eight navy-yards, the principal one being 
at Brooklyn. The barracks for the marines in Wash- 
ington are situated on Eighth Street, a short distance 
from the navy-yard; they cost $350,000. The navy- 
yard at Washington does not build large ships, but pro- 
duces chains, anchors, ordnances, such as rifles, breech- 
loading guns, etc., together with a long list of mate- 
rials used in the navy. 

Admiral Dewey is not only the pride of the navy 
but of the nation . He receives $ 1 3 , 500 per year. Rear- 
Admirals are paid $8,000. 

Extensive and important improvements are to be 
made at the Annapolis Naval Academy. The country 
expedls great proficiency in its army and navy, so no 
pains, no expense should be spared in the preparation 
of men of whom so much is required. A number of 
years ago Commodore Perry, speaking to the vStudents 
of Antioch College (Ohio), told the following anecdote: 

' ' Some twenty-five years ago I was carelessly walk- 
ing on the levee of a city of the Adriatic. A short dis- 
tance from the shore lay a man-of-war at anchor. I 
called an oarsman to me, and had him take me out to 
the vessel. 

" I saw no one on board, but by a rope hanging over 
the side I went on deck, hand over hand. I paid the 
oarsman, and told him to return for me in an hour. 

** I wandered over the beautiful ship, admiring its 
guns, its keeping, its admirable appointments, and its 
excellent management, shown by its condition. At 
the end of my hour I began to look for my oarsman. 

159 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

Just then I discovered a door on my right. I opened 
it, and in that room sat thirty-two boys. I had been 
there an hour and had not heard stir enough to show 
that so much as a bird was ahve on that boat. 

* ' The youngest cadet came to the door and welcomed 
me with his cordial military salute. * Boy, where is 
your teacher?' 'Gone ashore, sir.' * Do you keep 
absolute order while he is gone? ' ' Certainly, sir.' 

'* Then passing to the front, I said to one of the older 
boys: * Young man, why do you adl so differently from 
other boys ? Are you afraid of being punished ? ' 

" The cadet rose to his feet. 'Sir,' said he, 'you 
see before you thirty-two cadets. We all expe(5l to 
govern others in our future work. The first element 
of a good governor is self-government; sir, we are 
practising that.' " 

The Commodore added : ' ' That was twenty-five 
years ago. In the providence of God none of these 
young men have been called to eternity. I will now 
read you their names. ' ' And the audience recognized 
in each man a name famous in the navies of Great 
Britain, Germany, France, or America. 

Now those lads had not merely kept silent. The 
mastery of self made them victorious over temper, bad 
habits, and all depraved tastes. They were men in 
soul as well as in body. Truly, " He that ruleth his 
spirit is greater than he that taketh a city." 



160 




XXVII 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

N February, 1903, President Roosevelt nomi- 
nated to the head of the new Department 
of Commerce and Labor his secretary, 
George B. Cortelyou, and to be Commis- 
sioner of Corporations in that department James R. 
Garfield, who is a son of President Garfield, and a 
member of the Civil Service Commission. Of these 
appointments the New York Times expressed the 
general opinion of the press of the country : 

The former appointment is significant chiefly because the 
new Secretary is intimately known to the President, and his 
poHcy in the department will probably represent the Presi- 
dent's views very closely. It cannot in any special sense be 
regarded as a political appointment. The selection of Mr. 
Garfield is also conspicuously on the merits of the appointee, 
who is not an active politician, is an able lawyer, has been 
prominent and useful in the promotion of municipal reform 
and of the merit system in Ohio and as a Civil Service Com- 
missioner. He has plenty of energy, a cool head, experience 
in public affairs, and may be expected to do all that can be 
done with the powers of his new office, the value of which 
must depend much on the character of the Commissioner and 
the support and direction of the Secretary and of the President. 

After that Mr. Cortelyou made an efficient officer 
in this Department, then was transferred to the 
Treasury, which he al^ly conducted during the panic 
of 1907. At the end of the Roosevelt Administration 
he was called to the presidency of the Consolidated 
Gas Company in New York City. 

Ifil 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

Mr. Garfield was soon called to deal with the 
great corporations, and confronted the greatest prob- 
lem of the times. He came to his responsible place 
a comparatively unknown man. His name carried 
something of the halo which surrounds the name 
of his distinguished father, and for that reason 
he started with the best wishes of his country- 
men. 

Mr. Taft placed at the head of the Department of 
Commerce and Labor Mr. Nagel, of St. Louis, whose 
history the Congressional Directory sums up as 
follows : 

Charles Nagel, of St. Louis, Mo., Secretary of Commerce 
and Labor (the Arlington), was born August 9, 1S49, in 
Colorado County, Tex. He left his home in 1863 as a result 
of the civil war, accompanying his father to old Mexico, and 
from there, by way of New York, to St. Louis. He graduated 
from the St. Louis High School in 1868 ; from the St. Louis 
Law School in 1872 ; attended the University of Berlin 1872-73 ; 
admitted to the bar 1S73. In 1876 he married Fannie Brandeis, 
of Louisville, who died in i88q, one daughter surviving her. 
In 1895 he married Anne Shepley, and they have four 
children. He was a member of the Missouri Legislature from 
1881 to 1883 ; president of the St. Louis City Council from 1893 
to 1897 ; member of the St. Louis Law School faculty since 
1886 ; Board of Trustees of Washington Universit}'^ ; Board of 
Directors of St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts. Made national 
committeeman from Missouri in 1908. Has taken an active 
part in politics for the last twenty years by participating in 
conventions and speaking during campaigns, and has from 
time to time delivered addresses before bar associations and 
similar organizations upon various topics of public interest. 

The new department has a wide scope, and under 
efficient administration may exert a good deal of i-n- 

162 



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

fluence. It takes over pradlically the scientific and 
statistical work of the government, especially the 
Coast Survey, the Bureaus of Statistics from the 
Treasury and State Departments, and the Fish Com- 
mission, besides the Labor Bureau, the Immigration 
Bureau, and the enforcement of the Chinese Ex- 




[SH COMMISSION KUIMHNG 



elusion Acl, and it has a new Bureau of Manufac- 
tures, with considerable duties. But undoubtedly 
the most important work it can perform is in the 
Bureau of Corporations. It will do a great work, 
if it only secures publicity of accounts. The powers 
of this bureau extend to "diligent investigation 
into tlie organization, conchicft, and management of 
any corporation, joint stock company, or corporate 

103 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

combination engaged in commerce among the several 
States and with foreign nations, excepting common 
carriers." For this work the Commissioner is to have 
the ' ' right to subpoena and compel the attendance 
and testimony of witnesses and the produdlion of docu- 
mentary evidence and to administer oaths. ' ' One of 
the objedls of this power is to enable the Commissioner 
to ' ' gather such information and data as will enable 
the President of the United States to make recommen- 
dations to Congress for the regulation of" inter- 
state and foreign commerce. 

. The Survey, Quarantine, Immigration, and Life- 
Saving bureaus are next in importance. Along the 
coast new harbors and coast lines are constantly being 
sur\^eyed. When the quarantine officer boards your 
ship at the entrance of New York harbor, and scares 
you thoroughly lest he keep you in quarantine for the 
sake of some poor Italian baby in the steerage, he 
represents the Secretary of Commerce guarding a great 
nation from disease. When the immigrant lands he is 
interviewed by an agent of this department and his 
money changed into United States currency. Some of 
these agents recognize in the poor, frightened, lonely, 
and travel-stained foreigner a human being who needs a 
friendly word and helping hand, but others would scare 
even an American woman, who knows her own value, 
out of her wits ; what, then, must be the effecSlofsuch 
men on the feelings of these strangers ? Nearly a half 
million of foreigners a year enter our ports, and I 
have seen many of them treated like cattle. 

The Life-Saving Bureau has charge of the continuous 
line of life-saving stations which guard our coasts. 

164 



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

No braver men have ever lived than the devoted ser- 
vants of the government who patrol our shores. There 
are 269 life-saving stations on the coasts of the Atlan- 
tic, the Pacific, and the Great Lakes, and one at the 
Ohio Falls, at Louisville, Ky. The men of these stations 
were present last year at 693 disasters and saved 3,377 
lives. Our government pensions soldiers and sailors 
who are hired to destroy lives ; surely greater pensions 
should be awarded these heroes of the main for saving 
life. 



1G5 



XXVIII 



THE EXECUTIVE MANSION 



THK President's house is generally known as 
the White House. It is situated on Penn- 
^^S sylvania Avenue, one mile west of the Capi- 
tol building. It contains two lofty stories 
above ground and a basement. 

It was modeled after the palace of the Duke of 
Leicester by the architedl, James 
Hobon. The foundation was 
laid Ocflober 13, 1792, and the 
building was first occupied by 
President John Adams in the 
summer of 1800. It was par- 
tially burned by the British in 
1 8 14. The front is ornamented 
by Ionic columns and a proje<ft- 
ing screen with three columns. 
The space between these two 
sets of columns constitutes a 
carriage-way, admitting to the 
main entrance. 
The White House proper contains but thirty-one 
rooms. The building was refitted and the wings for ap- 
proach and for the private offices of the President were 
built during the administration of President Roosevelt. 
Whether seen through the tracery of leafless trees or 
through the verdure of summer, the White House always 
looks cool, restful, and beautiful. The situation is not re- 




MRS. WILLIAM H. TAFT 

(Copyright, 1908, by Harris & Ewin; 
Washington. P. C.) 



16G 



THE EXECUTIVE MANSION 



garded as very healthful, but everything that modern 
science can do is now being employed to improve its 
sanitary condition. 

All official duties will in time be attended to in the 
offices which are situated just west of the White 
House, so that the latter will be used only as the 
private residence of the President's family. 

lyongfellow says : 

All houses wherein men have lived and died 
Are haunted houses. 

How true this must be of the home of our Presi- 
dents! George Washington watched its building, and 
with his stately wife walked through it when it was 
finished, and was satisfied. They were about ready 
to leave the scene of acflion, but they did much to pre- 
pare the stage for the procession of Presidents which 
has followed. 

For the last fifty years much complaint has been 
made that the house has not been large enough and 
that it was lacking in modern conveniences, but in 
spite of these obje(5lions no trouble has yet been ex- 
perienced in finding men who were quite willing and 
even anxious to occupy it. 

The walls are covered with portraits of the Presidents 
and their wives. All these portraits are interesting. 

Mrs. John Adams bewailed the unfinished condition 
of the house, and used the now famous East Room for 
drying the family linen. 

Of all the noble matrons who have graced the White 
House, Abigail Adams was the wivSest and greatest. 
Her letters make her the Madam de Sevigne of our 

167 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

land. Her letter (written February, 1797) to her hus- 
band, who had just succeeded Washington, sounds 
like the voice of an oracle. We quote a portion : 
" You have this day to declare yourself head of a 
nation. ' And now, O Lord, my God, thou hast made 
Thy servant ruler over the people ; give unto him an 
understanding heart, that he may know how to go 
out and come in before this great people ; that he may 
discern between good and bad. For who is able to 
judge .this Thy so great a people? ' were the words of 
a royal sovereign, and not less applicable to him who 
is invested with the Chief Magistracy of a nation, tho 
he wear not a crown nor the robes of royalty. My 
thoughts and my meditations are with you, tho per- 
sonally absent, and my petitions to heaven are that 
* the things which make for peace may not be hidden 
from your eyes. ' My feelings are not those of pride 
or ostentation upon this occasion. They are solemn- 
ized by a sense of the obligations, the important trusts, 
and numerous duties conne(5ted with it. That you 
may be enabled to discharge them with honor to your- 
self, with justice and impartiality to your countr}^ and 
with satisfa(5lion to this great people, shall be the 
daily prayer of yours — ' ' 

The first New^-year's reception at the White House 
was held by President Adams in 1801. Mrs. Adams 
kept up the stately, ceremonious customs established 
by President and Mrs. Washington. It was her son, 
John Quincy Adams, as Monroe's Secretary of State, 
who was afterward to write out a definite code for 
almost every public ceremony. This code is largely in 
force at the present time. 
168 



THE EXKCUTIVE MANvSION 



Martha Washington comes into history simply as 
the wife of a great man, but Abigail Adams was in- 
herently a superior woman. Of all the women who 
occupied the White House she, only, gave the country 
a son who became a great man, and occupied the high- 
est position in the gift of his country. 

After John Adams came Thomas Jefferson, who 
had imbibed ultra-democratic ideas in the French 
Revolution. The ceremonies which prevailed in the 
Washington and Adams period were temporarily laid 
aside by this plain Virginia gentleman. He received 
the formal dames of the land in his riding-suit, covered 
with dust, riding- whip in hand, and with clanking 
spurs on his heels. His lovely daughter. Martha 
Jefferson Randolph, did her best to give the great 
house the air of a pleasant home. She succeeded well, 
and Jefferson's accomplished daughter smoothed many 
of the asperities existing amojig public men who had 
lived through the Revolution and suffered from the 
jealousies, misunderstandings, and injustices of the 
times. 

Mrs. Dolly Madison was probably the greatest social 
genius that has ever occupied the White House. The 
papers of that day declare ' ' Mrs. Madison is the most 
popular person in the United States. ' ' 

Washington .social life yet abounds in pleasing leg- 
ends of her graceful, courteous kindness, not only to 
the gentlemen and ladies of the legations, but to the 
ignorant and socially unskilled who were among her 
worshipers. James Fenimore Cooper, in a private 
letter, gives a pidlure of the White House in the days 
of James Monroe : 

1G9 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

"The evening at the White House, or drawing- 
room, as it is sometimes pleasantly called, is, in fa(5l, 
a colle<5lion of all classes of people who choose to go to 
the trouble and expense of appearing in dresses suited 
to an evening party. I am not sure that even dress is 
very much regarded, for I certainly saw a good many 
there in boots. . . . Squeezing through a crowd, 
we achieved a passage to a part of the room where 
Mrs. Monroe was standing, surrounded by a bevy of 
female friends. After making our bow here, we 
sought the President. The latter had posted himself 
at the top of the room, where he remained most of the 
evening shaking hands with all who approached. 
Near him stood the Secretaries and a great number of 
the most distinguished men of the nation. Beside 
these, one meets here a great variety of people in other 
conditions of life. I have known a cartman to leave 
his cart in the street and go into the reception-room to 
shake hands with the President. He offended the 
good taste of all present, because it was not thought 
decent that a laborer should come in a dirty dress on 
such an occasion; but while he made a mistake in this 
particular, he proved how well he understood the dif- 
ference between government and society." 

The Monroes came to the White House after it had 
been restored after the burning in 1814. It was barely 
furnished at that time, and contained but few conve- 
niences for entertaining. Mrs. Monroe brought furni- 
ture diredlly from Paris, which she used for the East 
Room. This has been frequently upholstered, and 
constitutes part of the handsome furniture at the pres- 
ent time. 
170 



THE EXECUTIVE MANSION 



John Ouincy Adams, the fifth President of the 
United vStates, was one of the greatest men this coun- 
try has yet produced. Repellant manners injured his 
usefulness and obscured the luster of his great name. 
It is said he could grant a request and thereby lose a 
friend, while Clay could say * ' No ' ' so kindly as to 
win a friend. 

The life of Louisa Catherine Adams, wife of John 
Quincy Adams, is one of surprising interest. She was 
the daughter of Joshua Johnson, of Maryland, was 
educated and married in London, accompanied her 
husband to the many different courts to which he was 
minister, and brought to the White House a larger 
social experience than any of her predecessors. 

She reestablished the stately ceremonials of the 
Washington period, which greatly resembled the cus- 
toms of the English Court. Among the great men 
who frequented her levees were Webster, Clay, Cal- 
houn, and Andrew Jackson (the latter always in buif 
pants and vest with blue broadcloth coat and gilt 
buttons). 

Then came strenuous Andrew Jackson as President, 
with only the memory of his beloved Rachel, who had 
passed away before he became Chief Magistrate. She 
had been buried in the beautiful dress prepared for her 
husband's inauguration. A private letter yet extant 
gives this pi<5lure of the days when Emily Donelson 
(wife of the President's nephew) was the chief lady of 
the land : 

" The large parlor was scantily furnished ; there was 
light from the chandelier, and a l^lazing fire in the 
grate ; four or five ladies sewing around it ; Mrs. 

171 



WASHINGTON : iTvS SICxHTS AND INSIGHTS 

Donelson, Mrs. Andrew Jackson, Jr., Mrs. Edward 
Livingston, and others. Five or six children were 
playing about, regardless of documents or work-bas- 
kets. At the farther end of the room sat the President 
in an arm-chair, wearing a loose coat, and smoking a 
long reed pipe, with bowl of red clay — combining the 
dignity of the patriarch, monarch, and Indian chief. 
Just behind him was Edward Livingstone, the Secre- 
tary of State, reading a despatch from the French 
Minister for Foreign Affairs. The ladies glance ad- 
miringly now and then at the President, who listens, 
waving his pipe toward the children when they be- 
come too boisterous. ' ' 

Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren, Tyler, and Arthur 
were widowers when they entered the White House. 

Van Buren was the Talleyrand of American politics. 
Secretary of State under. Jackson, he had won the 
heart of his chief, whose influence secured him the 
Presidency. His son's wife, Angelica Singleton Van 
Buren, gracefully conducfted the ceremonies of the 
White House during the Van Buren administration. 

General William Henry Harrison became President 
in 1 841. His wife never came to Washington. He died 
one month after his inauguration.. It was declared that 
he was worried to death by the fierce office-seekers of 
the time. His was the first funeral from the White 
House. 

John Tyler, who succeeded Harrison, was a polished, 
cultured gentleman from Virginia. His was the liter- 
ary period, when Washington Irving, Edward Ever- 
ett, and John Howard Payne received foreign appoint- 
ments. 
172 



THE EXECUTIVE MANSION 

His first wife, Letitia Christian Tyler, made her first 
public appearance at the White House at the marriage 
of her daughter. She died in 1842. Eight months 
before Tyler's term expired he was married to Miss 
Julia Gardner, of New York. The festivities of the 
time began with her wedding reception, and lasted till 
the end of that administration. 

James K. Polk, of Tennessee, became President in 
1845. He was rather small physically, and so spare 
or thin that the tailor had to make his clothing too 
large to help out his appearance. 

Mrs. Polk much resembled in manners Martha 
Washington. She dressed well and gave frequent 
levees, as receptions were then called. She received 
her guCvSts sitting, with the President standing by her 
chair. A gentleman once said to her, " Madam, there 
is a wo pronounced against you in the Scriptures: 
* Wo unto you when all men shall speak well of 
you.' " 

In 1849 Gen. Zachariah Taylor was inaugurated as 
the twelfth President of the United States. He lived 
sixteen months and five days after he became Presi- 
dent. His wife, Margaret Taylor, was an invalid, but 
his daughter, "Miss Betty" as she was familiarly 
called, made the White House attradlive. 

Millard Fillmore, of New York, ele(5led Vice- 
PrCvSident, became President July 10, 1852. He was 
an eminent lawyer from Buffalo. His manners were 
marked with great simplicity and affability. Mrs. 
Abigail Filhnore was one of the few literary women 
who have presided in the White House. She drew to 
her side the literary men and women of the nation, and 

173 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

her receptions resembled the French salons in their 
literary tone. 

Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, became Presi- 
dent in 1853. He was a shy, modest man, who could 
not cope with the strong men of the South, who were 
even then preparing for secession. He was six feet 
high. His coal-black hair and eyes gave him a most 
striking appearance. His wife, Mrs. Jane Appleton 
Pierce, was not a strong woman physically, but 
managed to discharge the duties of the White House 
with great dignity. 

James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, became the 
fifteenth President of the United States in 1857. The 
throes of the Civil War began in his administration. 
He was a politician, not a statesman, and tried to suit 
both sides, but ended by suiting neither. But the 
duties of the White House were never more elegantly 
administered than while Miss Harriet Lane, the niece 
of President Buchanan, presided. There are white- 
haired diplomats living to-day who compare every thing 
now done in the White House with Miss Lane's grace- 
ful administration. She had been much with her uncle 
when he was minister at foreign courts, and they both 
had many friends among the scholarly men of the lega- 
tions, so that the White House became the rendezvous 
of that class more than at any other period. She re- 
ceived the Prince of Wales and his suite most grace- 
fully, omitting nothing which would add to the dignity 
of the occasion. 

Jefferson Davis said: " The White House under the 
administration of Buchanan approached more nearer 
to my idea of a Republican Court than the Presi- 

174 



THE EXECUTIVE MANSION 



dent's house had ever done since the days of Wash- 
ington." 

Abraham Eincohi, ''the noblest Roman of them 
all," became President March 8, 1861. He is the 
greatest American that has yet lived. Washington 
was the result of English influences, but Lincoln is the 
highest representative of republican influences that has 
yet governed this nation. A giant in stature, being 
six feet and four inches in height, his grand physique 
was but a type of the great heart and strong intelledl 
of a great man. He was called to preside over, this 
nation at the most critical time in its history. 

Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln found it difficult to keep 
up the ceremonious customs of the White House with 
a husband who followed no coventionalties, but 
believed the Executive Mansion should be opened at 
all times to every citizen. Mrs. Lincoln devoted much 
time to the soldiers in the hospitals, and the White 
House conservatory was kept stripped of flowers for 
the benefit of the wounded and sick. 

Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, came to the Presi- 
dency on the death of Mr. Lincoln in 1865. He was 
not wise in his judgments, and had he been more 
amenable to men of experience in governmental affairs 
his life in Washington would have been much easier. 
Time is revealing more and more that his troubles 
were in a great degree the result of the jealousies and 
disappointments of politicians. The sufferings of the 
people of the White House during the days of Presi- 
dent Johnson's trials can never be estimated. 

Martha Patterson, widow of Senator Patterson, of 
Tennessee, and daughter of the President, administered 

175 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

the social duties of the Executive Mansion during 
Johnson's administration, Mrs. Johnson being an in- 
valid. Mrs. Patterson said: *'We are plain people 
from the mountains of Tennessee, called here for a 
short time by a national calamity. I trust too much 
will not be expedled of us. ' ' But sad as her heart 
must have been in those days, she filled the duties of 
her high place to the satisfaction of even the exacfting 
great dames of the period. Andrew Johnson's lovely 
family are yet fondly remembered and deeply loved by 
many who enjoyed the friendship of " the plain people 
from Tennessee. ' ' 

General U. S. Grant, of Illinois, became President 
in 1869, and his administration was one long carnival 
of social duties and enjoyments. 

Mrs. Julia Dent Grant and her accomplished daugh- 
ter, Nellie, led the society of the Capitol through eight 
brilliant years. The White House was entirely refur- 
nished, and the festivities were on a scale of magnifi- 
cence never equaled there before or since. 

In 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, became 
President. He came in at a difficult and dangerous 
time, but his administration brought peace and tran- 
quility to the nation. 

Mrs. lyucy Webb Hayes was noted for her plain 
dressing and stricft temperance principles, which she 
enforced even in the White House, much to the dis- 
gust of the legations and to the delight of the Chris- 
tian people of the country. 

James A. Garfield, of Ohio, became President in 
1 88 1. His life in the White House from March to 
September, 1881, scarcely gave time to show what the 

176 




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SOUTH FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE 




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NORTH FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE 




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THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT 



THE EXECUTIVE MANSION 



social life in Washington would have been had he lived 
to complete his term. His assassination cast a gloom 
over the social life for a full year after Chester A. 
Arthur became the Executive. He served to the end 
of the term, in 1885. President Arthur being a wid- 
ower, the hostess of the White House during his term 
was his accomplished sister, Mrs. Mary Arthur 
McElroy. 

Grover Cleveland, of New York, became President 
in 1885. The Republican party had been in power 
for twenty-five years, and when Mr. Cleveland was 
eledled the change of officers was as great as in the 
days of Andrew Jackson. Cleveland was a man of the 
highest integrity and the most unfaltering courage, 
so that the change proved beneficial to the entire 
land. 

Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, sister of the Presi- 
dent, presided at the White House until his marriage, 
June 2, 1886, to Miss Frances Folsom, who became, 
next to Dolly Madison, the most popular woman who 
ever entertained in the historic old house. 

In March, 1889, Benjamin Harrison became Chief 
Magistrate. The first Mrs. Harrison was a woman 
experienced in Washington society, and was much 
loved by a very large circle. 

In 1893 Grover Cleveland again became President, 
and in 1897 William McKinley, probably the best- 
loved man by the people of any President since the 
days of Mr. Lincoln. 

Mrs. McKinley, altho an invalid, with the assist- 
ance of her nieces, kept up the reputation and social 
festivities of the White House. 

177 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

Theodore Roosevelt became President September, 
1 90 1, and closed a brilliant and successful administra- 
tion March 4, 1909. His administration will be re- 
membered in history as a strenuous fight against 
wrong-doing in high places. He will be honored for 
having secured to the United States proper recognition 
in world politics and for having promoted peace and 
good will among nations. 

William Howard Taft, of Ohio, was inaugurated 
President March 4, 1909. No man has ever been 
called to this high office with a broader training. He 
is a graduate of Yale, has received the degree of LL.D. 
from five universities, is a distinguished law^yer, has 
been a wise judge, and a successful governor of the 
Philippine Islands at the difficult period of transition. 
As a traveler he has looked into the faces and is per- 
sonally known to all the great rulers of the world. 
He has visited Cuba and the Panama Zone (the spheres 
of probable disturbance), and has therefore had the 
training which should fit him to deal wisely with both 
the domestic and the foreign problems likely to arise. 

Mr. Taft was married in 1886 to Miss Helen Herron, 
of Cincinnati. They have two sons and one daughter. 
Mrs. Taft has had a large social experience, and is 
considered one of the most cultured women ever called 
to direcft the affairs of the White House. 



178 



XXIX 

INTERESTS IN WASHINGTON WHICH CAN NOT 
HERE BE FULLY DESCRIBED 



tl J N the third story of the Congressional Library 
■ i^ I strangers can find two papier-mache models 
^P^ which are of great interest. One reprCvSents 
the City of Washington in 1902, the other 
represents the Washington of the future. 

Congress has called the great engineers of the War 
Department and four of the leading artists of the 
United States as a committee on civic improvement 
for the capital city. The artists are : Mr. Daniel H. 
Burnham, of Chicago ; Mr. John C. Olmstead, the 
noted landscape artist ; Mr. Charles F. McKim, and 
Mr. Augustus St. Gaudens. 

By the plans the public buildings of the future will 
be arranged around Capitol Square (which has now 
two sides occupied by private residences), and will 
then extend on both sides the mall, or flat, low-lying 
districfl 1,600 feet in width, extending from the Capitol 
building to the Potomac, a distance of one and a half 
miles, and inclosing the Washington monument. The 
buildings are all to be of white marble, harmonious in 
design, and with a standard sky-line. The latter 
feature is not pleasing in effecft in the model. The 
Pennsylvania Railroad and the B. (Sc O. Railroad have 
already given up their small stations, and now witli all 
other roads passing through Washington run into a 
handsome new Union vStation. 

179 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

At the front of Capitol Hill will be Union Square, 
where the statues of war heroes will be grouped. The 
streets from that point to the Washington monument 
will have four rows of trees on each side. A great 
theater, gymnasium, lakes, fountains, and baths will 
remind one of ancient Rome. A magnificent memorial 
to Abraham Lincoln will be placed south of the Wash- 
ington monument. Obelisks and arches which have 
been used as memorials from the earliest ages will 
form part of the ornamentation. People smile over 
this wonderful design, but if from now on all public 
work is done under this intelligent supervision even 
one hundred years may make the dream of these artists 
a glorious reality. Not a lamp-post will go up in this 
new day, not a business sign will be displayed without 
the approval of this art commission. 

Designs for private houses as well as business 
houses must be made to harmonize with the landscape 
and other buildings which already exist. * * May we 
all be here to see." 

Among the buildings and objedls of interest which 
can not here be fully described, nor their histories 
elaborated, is the Ben Butler building on Capitol 
Square, where President Arthur made his home while 
the White House was being repaired. 

There is also the old Capitol or Capitol Square (now 
numbered 21, 23, 25), which was used by Congress 
after the British had destroyed the Capitol in 1814. 
These buildings were used as a military prison during 
the Civil War, and here Wirtz, of Andersonville prison 
memory, was executed. In one of them died John C, 
Calhoun. 
180 




CHARLOTTE CORDAY 
(One of the paintings in the Corcoran Art Gallery) 



181 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

The Washington monument, nearly six hundred 
feet high, is said to be the highest monument in the 
world. It was erecfled in memory of George Wash- 
ington. This grand stru(5lure is of pure white marble. 
From the top there is a magnificent view of the sur- 
rounding country. The monument, however, has 
suffered from the disintegrating effecfls of the weather, 
and from the ruthless hands of the relic-hunters. The 
majestic appearance of the monument grows upon the 
beholder, and its pearly whiteness reminds him of 
the chara(5ler of Washington, which grows fairer in 
the mellowing light of history. 

Arlington Cemetery should be visited by the pilgrim 
to Washington. There sleep many of the sacred dead 
of the nation, and there is the home of Robert E. Lee, 
where he was called to decide between his country as 
a whole or his native state. 

Around Lafayette Square, which faces the White 
House, history, poetry, romance, and chivalry have 
twined an immortal wreath. Every monument com- 
memorates a hero. Here, too, is the old private resi- 
dence of Dolly Madison, the old home of the British 
Embassy, where Owen Meredith wTote " Lucile " ; 
also the Webster home, where once lived the French 
Embassy ; and St. John's Episcopal Church, where 
many Presidents have worshiped. Here Webster, 
Sumner, and Slidell lived at different periods. The 
old Decatur house stands on this square. The Ad- 
miral had a window cut through, so that he could 
signal the President in the White House. They 
missed the telephone. On this square lived Diaz, of 
Mexico ; here Don Cameron and Blaine each lived in 
182 



OTHER INTERESTS IN WASHINGTON 

the same house, afterward occupied by Senator Hanna. 
On the north side is the handsome residence where 
hved Secretary of State John Hay. 

Georgetown, named after George III. of England, 
is much older than Washington City. The stories of 
its former grandeur and its distincflively Southern tone 
make it a quaint obje(5l of interest. Its most interest- 
ing literary shrine is the home of Mrs. E. D. E. N. 
Southworth, the novelist, who wrote one novel for each 
year of her long life. 

The Corcoran Art Gallery, on Seventeenth Street, 
extending from New York Avenue to E Street, just 
southwest of the White House, has many obje(5ls of 
interest both in painting and sculpture. 

No traveler should fail to visit Mount Vernon, the 
home of George and Martha Washington. The house 
was built in 1783 by Eawrence, half-brother of 
General Washington. The rooms seem small and 
cramped, according to our modern ideas, but they were 
the stage upon which lived and loved two names of 
sacred memory. The buildings are in the custody of 
the ladies of the Mount Vernon Association, and the 
care of each room is in charge of some one State. 

The United States Naval Observatory, north of 
Georgetown, will interest lovers of astronomy, while 
every square, circle, and triangle of Washington City 
has some reminder of those whose heroic deeds, spiritual 
devotion, or literary and scientific achievement have 
beautified, ennobled, and glorified the world, and made 
it more beautiful because of their lives. 



183 



WASHINGTON : ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 

Continental Hall, the home of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, situated on Seventeenth Street, 
south of the Corcoran Art Gallery, ranks with the 
most beautiful of the white marble buildings. It 
was begun in 1903, and will be finished in 1909, at a 
cost of $500,000. 

The National Society of the Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution was organized Odlober 12, 1890, in 
Washington, and holds a charter from Congress. 
It reports annually to the Smithsonian Institute, and 
its reports are printed by Congress. It is the only 
society of women in the world organized for stri<5lly 
patriotic purposes. 

Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, wife of the President of 
the United States; Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson, wife of 
the Vice-President of the United States and President 
of the Senate; Mrs. Daniel Manning, wife of former 
Secretary of the Treasury of the United States; Mrs. 
Charles W. Fairbanks, wife of the Vice-President of 
the United States ; Mrs. Donald MacLean and Mrs. 
Scott, of Illinois, have been the presidents-general 
since its organization. 

The chief work of the society is to mark historic 
spots in all parts of the country, to perpetuate the 
memories of the heroic dead, and to make patriotism 
a passion instead of a sentiment. Another objecft is 
to make good citizens of all boys and girls of the land. 
It does much good in bringing together people from 
different sedlions, thereby curing provincialism, and 
bringing about friendly relations between different 
parts of this great country. 



184 



OCT 5 1909 



